ON  THE 


HISTORY  OF  MUSIC 


ARNOLD   ,. 


C.   SCHIRMER 


THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 

OF  CALIFORNIA 

LOS  ANGELES 


FROM  THE  LIBRARY  OF 
ERNEST  CARROLL  MOORE 


SECOND  ED  IT  10 


FAMILIAR  VklX.^*^^y^  > 

ON  THE 

HISTORY  OF  MUSIC 


BY 
ARNOLD  J.  GANTVOORT 

LECTURER  ON  THE  HISTORY  OF  MUSIC  AT  THE 
COLLEGE  OF  MUSIC  OF  CL\CINNATI 


G.  Schirmer  Music  Stores,  inc. 

In  WuRLiTZER  Building,  First  Floor 
814  SO.  BROADWAY  LOS  ANGELES 


Copyright,  1913, 

BY 

G.  SCHIRMER 
24273 


tollege 
Library 

Mi. 

Gl5f 
1113 


MRS.    BETTIE   FLEISCHMANN-HOLMES 

IN  TOKEN  OF  APPRECIATION  OF  HER  INCESSANT  AND  INDEFATIGABLE 

LABORS  IN  THE  CAUSE  OF  THE  ADVANCEMENT  OF  MUSICAL 

ART,  THIS  VOLUME  IS  RESPECTFULLY  DEDICATED  BY 

THE  AUTHOR 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 

in  2007  with  funding  from 

IVIicrosoft  Corporation 


http://www.archive.org/details/familiartalloonhOOgantiala 


PREFACE 

In  these  days  of  extensive  general  education,  some  know- 
ledge of  important  events  in  the  history  of  the  development 
of  musical  art,  and  some  acquaintance  with  the  lives  of 
our  greatest  musical  personages,  have  become  almost  indis- 
pensable. 

The  desire  for  a  concise  work  which  would  contain  con- 
siderable information  on  this  subject,  presented  in  a  manner 
and  in  language  easily  understood,  has  been  expressed  to  me 
by  many  hundreds  of  music  students,  musical  amateurs  and 
members  of  musical  clubs. 

In  response  to  this  demand,  the  present  volume,  which  is 
the  outgrowth  of  more  than  twenty  years  of  lecture- work, 
was  written. 

The  notes  containing  the  data  for  this  lecture-work  were 
made  during  a  long  period  of  musical  study  and  musical  ac- 
tivity, and  their  import  has  so  completely  become  a  part  of 
my  composite  knowledge  on  the  subject,  that  I  find  myself 
unable  to  give  credit  to  any  individual  historical  writer  whose 
works  may  have  b6en  consulted.  Sincere  thanks  are  therefore 
hereby  extended  to  all  who  have  written  on  this  subject 
from  whom  information  may  have  been  gathered. 

If  a  perusal  of  this  volume  shall  succeed  in  creating  in  the 

minds  of  some  of  its  readers  a  desire  for  further  information 

about  the  history  of  that  far-reaching  art,  which  accompanies 

us  from  the  cradle  to  the  grave,  I  shall  not  deem  my  labors 

to  have  been  in  vain. 

ARNOLD  J.   GANTVOORT. 

Cincinnati,  O.,  March  the  isth,  1913. 


INTRODUCTION 


"The  proper  study  of  mankind  is  man,"  said  Pope.  This 
statement,  of  course,  implies  not  only  the  study  of  man  as 
an  individual,  but  also  that  of  his  achievements  in  every 
field  of  high  endeavor.  This  study  of  man's  endeavors  in 
the  various  arts  and  sciences  results  in  culture.  The  thor- 
ough study  of  any  art  includes  a  knowledge  of  the  history  of 
its  development,  an  acquaintance  with  the  conditions  under 
which  it  began  and  attained  maturity,  the  uplift  or  degener- 
ation of  its  ideals.  The  value  of  a  musical  art-work  is  not 
a  mere  question  of  opinion,  or  of  its  apparent  adherence  to 
certain  fixed  rules,  but  of  musical  judgment.  One  means  of 
obtaining  a  real  foundation  for  true  musical  judgment  is  the 
study  of  the  History  of  Music.  This  does  not  mean  the 
mere  memorization  of  a  number  of  important  dates,  which 
are,  after  all,  largely  identical  with  those  of  other  great  world- 
events,  but  rather  a  faithful,  earnest  search  for  such  knowl- 
edge as  will  help  us  to  recognize  the  interrelation  of  these 
events.  Every  invention  in  art,  no  matter  how  humble,  is 
founded  on  previous  efforts,  and  whatever  may  help  us  to 
recognize  the  bearing  of  one  of  these  upon  another,  whatever 
may  help  us  to  perceive  the  causes  that  led  to  noteworthy 
subsequent  events,  is  deserving  of  serious  study.  \'iewed 
from  this  standpoint,  the  seemingly  barren  periods  of  musical 
history  become  interesting.  Much  may  be  learned  from  even 
the  many  unsuccessful  attempts  and  efforts  made  to  reach 
certain  artistic  ideals.  Our  degree  of  possession  of  the  best 
in  music  is  but  the  fruit  of  many  successful  and  unsuccessful 
attempts,  and  a  slow  development.  Progress  in  art.  as  in 
individuals,  is  seldom  realized  by  leaps  and  bounds,  but  is 


viii  Introdtiction 


rather  the  result  of  a  gradual  evolution,  each  period  of  defi- 
nite accomplishment  being  only  the  natural  issue  of  the  im- 
provement suggested  by  the  previous  period.  In  the  course  of 
our  study  we  shall  find  that  among  all  nations  of  antiquity, 
music  was  supposed  to  be  of  divine  origin,  an  attribute  of 
the  gods.  Even  we,  who  live  in  a  more  material  age,  must 
acknowledge  that  it  contains  a  suggestion,  an  inspiration,  a 
something  derived  from  a  rich  inner  life,  a  higher  source 
than  man  himself,  a  quaUty  that  we  rightly  attribute  to  all 
works  of  the  imagination.  Such  works  in  their  higher  devel- 
opment seem  to  be  above  man  and  to  come  from  above 
man. 

From  the  very  earliest  times  we  shall  find  the  practice  of 
music,  even  among  the  savages,  inhabiting  the  islands  of  the 
sea,  whose  mental  power  is  so  limited  that  they  cannot  count 
above  five,  but  who  have  nevertheless  an  established  practice 
of  some  sort  of  music  which  contains  the  elements  of  rhythm 
and  melody.  Some  years  ago,  at  the  World's  Fair  in  Chicago, 
there  were  to  be  seen  a  number  of  South-Sea  Islanders,  whose 
language  is  said  to  be  most  primitive,  but  who  executed 
very  intricate  dances.  Perhaps  we  should  not  call  them 
dances,  as  they  did  not  whirl  around,  but  moved  so  many 
steps  forward,  or  backward,  or  in  different  directions,  with 
astonishing  perfection  of  rhythm.  The  primitive  music  to 
which  they  danced  had  a  rhythm  quite  different  from  that  of 
the  dance,  and,  as  this  accompanying  music  was  made  almost 
wholly  by  instruments  of  percussion,  the  feat  of  keeping 
with  the  music  was  rather  extraordinary.  We  more  highly 
civilized  folk  would  find  this  a  difficult  proceeding,  perhaps 
for  the  reason  some  philosopher  has  advanced,  that,  as  we 
become  more  civilized,  we  lose  our  sense  of  rhythm  to  a 
degree.  From  our  study  we  shall  learn  that  every  period  of 
generally  increased  mental  strength  brings  increased  general 
proficiency  in  the  art  of  music,  for  there  is  no  art  which  more 
perfectly  reflects  the  acti\dty  of  the  innermost  spirit. 


Introduction  ix 


Early  forms  of  musical  expression  were  very  simple,  em- 
bracing very  limited  ranges  of  tone.  Physical  effort  was  then 
put  forth  only  to  supply  bodily  wants.  In  countries  and 
climates  where  this  did  not  require  much  exertion,  where 
people  needed  but  to  stretch  out  their  hands  to  find  what 
they  wanted  to  eat,  emotional  and  mental  development  was 
limited.  As  the  struggle  for  Ufe  became  more  intense,  man's 
activity  increased,  his  mental  horizon  broadened,  and,  in  con- 
formity with  this  growth,  the  musical  scales,  the  tonal  range, 
became  extended,  relations  between  tones  came  to  be  rec- 
ognized and  later  to  be  utiHzed.  Musical  art  then  became 
qualified  to  express  energetic  and  intense  emotion. 

Certain  physical  conditions  and  surroundings  are  prerequi- 
site to  the  cultivation  of  all  art.  In  considering  these,  it  is 
necessary  to  compare  the  external  and  internal  movements  of 
the  mind  of  a  nation  or  a  people,  at  any  given  period  of  its  his- 
tory; to  examine  into  the  amount  of  mental  and  physical  energy 
required  to  provide  for  existence,  and  the  depth  of  that  energy 
and  force.  The  surplus,  that  portion  which  is  not  expended 
in  procuring  the  necessaries  of  life,  finds  expression  in  the  arts. 
The  direction  of  this  art-expression  depends  largely  upon  en- 
vironment and  mental  predilection.  The  time  of  the  greatest 
artistic  activity  in  Greece  was  when  Athens  had  much  wealth, 
when  the  intellectual  movement  had  acquired  its  greatest 
force  and  activity.  During  that  period  sculpture  reached  its 
supreme  artistic  height,  because  it  reflected  man's  physical 
perfection,  then  considered  to  be  the  most  desirable  asset  of 
humanity.  In  pictorial  art  the  periods  of  Da  Vinci,  Michael 
Angelo  and  Raphael  in  Italy,  of  Rembrandt  and  Van  Dyke 
in  the  Netherlands,  were  signalized  by  combined '  mental 
activity  and  wealth. 

Since  musical  instruments  of  adequate  tonal  power,  and 
therefore  fit  for  genuinely  artistic  purposes,  did  not  exist 
before  the  fifteenth  century,  instrumental  music  as  an  art 
did  not  begin  until  about  that  time.     Vocal  music,  however, 


Introduction 


was  not  thus  limited,  and  flourished  both  in  religious  worship 
and  social  life.  It  is  of  intense  interest  to  us,  as  students, 
to  trace  the  development  of  this  class  of  music. 

Emotional  expression,  no  matter  how  limited,  is  common  to 
all  mankind.  Man  rises  higher  than  the  animal,  to  the  same 
degree  that  he  is  able  to  give  expression  to  his  emotions. 
Intellectual  ideas  among  nations  may  differ;  moral  ideas  may 
differ;  but  the  emotions  of  joy,  sorrow,  contentment,  courage 
and  a  certain  degree  of  exaltation  are  common  to  all,  and 
find  their  fullest  expression  in  music.  In  our  study  we  shall 
see  music,  first,  as  an  attempt  at  such  expression,  and  there- 
fore an  art.  As  the  art  becomes  more  generally  practised, 
the  theorist  will  come  and  reduce  the  art  to  a  science;  the 
rules  of  the  science  will  then  be  learned  and  obeyed  by  those 
who  wish  to  perfect  themselves  in  the  art;  as  the  art  pro- 
gresses still  more,  philosophers  and  theorists  will  note  the  new 
developments  and  again  formulate  them  for  the  guidance  of 
devotees  of  the  art;  they  will  analyze  and  systematize  their 
discoveries,  and  thus  prepare  the  way  for  further  artistic 
progress.  Students  of  harmony  are  taught  that  certain  har- 
monic and  melodic  progressions  are  forbidden.  In  our  study 
of  musical  history  we  shall  learn  of  a  prior  period  when  such 
progressions  were  not  only  permitted,  but  advocated,  and  that 
the  composer  of  to-day  makes  dramatic  use  of  these  selfsame 
things. 

Our  ability  to  express  the  Beautiful  is  limited  by  our 
capacity  for  emotion.  All  emotions  are  pleasurable  or  pain- 
ful, and  as  such  are  muscular  stimuli.  Spencer  and  Darwin 
agree  that  emotions  seek  and  find  physical  expression  of  some 
description.  Have  you  ever  noticed  any  one  waiting  for  the 
arrival  of  a  person  who  was  late  for  an  appointment?  The 
one  who  waits  will  very  likely  tap  the  ground  with  his  foot. 
That  is  simply  a  muscular  reflex  action  expressing  the  pent-up 
emotion  of  impatience.  In  great  sorrow,  too  great  for  the 
utterance  of  words,  people  are  often  seen  to  rock  the  body 


Introduction  xi 


back  and  forth,  a  wholly  involuntary  and  unconscious  mus- 
cular expression  of  emotion. 

Emotional  speech,  as  found  in  Shakespeare  and  other  great 
writers,  is  rhythmical.  In  impassioned  declamation  the  voice 
rises  and  falls  with  a  certain  cadence  and  rhythm.  Such 
exalted  speech  leads  into  song.  The  Gregorian  chant  or 
plain-song  of  the  CathoUc  Church  was  the  result  of  a  con- 
ventionalized form  of  speech  or  utterance,  and  became  the 
foundation  of  much  of  our  art-music.  The  dramatic  recital 
of  his  legends  by  the  savage  grew  into  epic  poetry;  while  lyric 
poetry,  with  its  exalted  tones  and  cadences,  gradually  led  to 
the  recitative  and  the  song. 

The  muscular  stimulation,  which  is  the  result  of  rhythm  in 
song  or  speech,  also  found  expression  in  the  dance,  and  be- 
came a  mode  of  worship  among  the  nations  of  antiquity.  We 
read  in  the  Bible  that  the  priests  and  Levites  danced  around 
the  ark  of  the  Covenant.  This  dance  was  not  a  two-step  or 
waltz,  but,  like  that  of  the  South-Sea  islanders,  consisted  of 
a  rhythmic  stepping  back  and  forth  in  perfect  harmony  with 
the  rhythm  of  the  chant  or  song,  a  muscular  expression  of 
the  emotion  engendered.  Emotional  speech,  poetry  and  the 
dance,  all  being  expressions  of  human  emotion,  form  part  of 
the  foundations  of  the  art  of  music,  whose  development  we 
are  to  follow  and  investigate. 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS. 


PAGE 

Preface v 

Introduction vii 

Chapter  I.  —  Music  among  the  Nations  of  Remote  Antiquity 1 

Chinese.  —  Mythology;    Form  of  Scale;    Songs  with  their  Accom- 
paniments;  Orchestra;   Instruments  —  Hiuen,  Cheng,  Kin  and  Che. 
Japanese.  —  Instruments  —  Kin,  Cheng,  Samisen;  Orchestra. 
Hindoos.  —  Mythology;    Scales;    Melodies;    Instruments  —  Vina, 
Serinda. 

Egyptians,  Africans  ant)  Western  Asiatics.  —  Mythology;  Scales; 
Melodies;  Instruments  —  Kem-Kem,  Lyres,  Drums,  Harps,  Kinnor, 
Dulcimer. 

Chapter  U.  —  Music  among  the  Hebrews,  Greeks  and  Romans 12 

Hebrews.  —  Biblical  Accounts;  Importance  of  Music  in  Temple  Ser- 
vices; Antiphonal  Singing;  Psalms;  Instruments  —  Kinnor,  Nebel, 
Psaltery,  Flutes,  Harps,  Trumpets,  Ugabh,  Shofar;   Melodies. 

Greeks.  —  Mythology;  Scales;  Melodies  and  their  use;  Tone-rela- 
tionships understood;  Monochord;  Pythagoras;  Poets  as  Musicians; 
Skolion  (banquet-song)  Virtuosi. 

Romans.  —  Virtuosity;  Masses  of  Players  and  Singers;  College 
Curricula. 

Chapter  in.  —  Music  in  the  Early  Christian  Era 26 

Greek  and  Hebrew  Folk-tunes  utilized;  Antiphonal  Singing;  Varying 
Manner  of  Singing  and  Service  in  Seven  Churches  of  Asia  Minor;  First 
Singing-schools  in  Rome;  Reformation  of  Modes  or  Scales  by  .\mbrose 
and  Gregory;  Characteristics  of  Reform;  Ambrosian  Chant;  Gregorian 
Chant,  its  probable  origin,  its  establishment;  Gregorian  Melodies; 
Early  Writers  on  Music. 

Chapter  IV.  — Early  Didactics;  Beginning  of  Polyphonic  Music 38 

Influence  of  the  Moors  on  European  Civilization;  their  Poetry; 
Music-system;  Songs;  Instruments  —  Rebab,  Laud,  Psaltery  with 
metal  strings,  struck  with  hammers. 

Ancient  Music  Homophonic,  Monophonic;  Beginnings  of  Polyphony, 
two  voices;  Hucbald's  Organum  (sacred  and  secular);  Guido  d'.^rezzo; 
Didactic  Improvements;  First  Solmization;  Discant.  as  expounded  by 
early  writers;  Examples;  Improvements  in  Notation  necessary  to  keep 

xiii 


xiv  Table  of  Contents 


PAGE 

pace  with  practice  of  discant;    Text-books  by  de  Garlandia,  the  two 
Francos,  Marchetto  of  Padua. 

French  School  of  Pol>'phony;  Fauxbourdon;  Musical  Forms  — 
Motet,  Rondeau,  Conduit;  Musical  Devices  —  Imitation,  Canon, 
Double  Counterpoint;  Composers  —  Perotin,  Leonin,  de  Meurs, 
de  Machaut. 

Chapter  V.  —  Folk-Music  during  the  Middle  Ages 55 

Appreciation  and  Practice  of  Folk-music  among  the  Celts  of  Brittany 
and  Wales  (Eisteddfod),  and  Ireland;  among  the  Anglo-Saxons;  Old 
Round  "Sumer  is  icumen  in";  among  the  Scandinavians;  in  France 
and  Germany;  Early  Popular  Ballads,  "Chansons  de  geste";  In- 
fluence of  the  Crusades  on  Music  and  Literature;  Troubadours, 
Trouveres,  Minnesingers;  Examples  of  their  Songs;   Meistersinger. 

Chapter  VI.  —  The  Development  of  Vocal  Polyphony 71 

Gallo-Belgic  School;  its  Masters  —  Zeelandia,  Dufay,  Binchois, 
Busnois;  Introduction  of  Popular  Songs  into  the  Mass;  "L'omme  arme." 
Netherlaxdish  School  (Dutch-Belgian),  First  Period:  Master  — 
Okeghem  (with  enigmatical  canons);  Pupils  —  Hobrecht,  Brumel, 
Tinctor,  de  Pres,  Agricola;  Examples  of  their  Work.  Second  Period: 
Master — Josquin  de  Pres;  Characteristics;  universally  appreciated;  Con- 
temporaries, Mouton  and  Arcadelt;  Pupils  become  Leaders  in  Third 
Period:  Gombert,  Goudimel,  de  Rore,  Willaert,  Ducis,  Hollander, 
Jannequin;  their  Pilgrimages,  and  resultant  Influence;  Development 
of  School  of  Organists;  Master  —  Sweelinck;  Pupils  —  Scheldt. 
Scheidemann,  Reinken,  Buxtehude  (forerunners  of  Bach).  Fourth 
Period:  Master  —  Orlandus  Lassus;  Contemporaries  —  Verdelot  and 
Buus;   their  Influence. 

Chapter  VII.  —  The  Renaissance  and  the  Reformation 92 

Appearance  of  Hymns  in  Germany;  Mixed  German  and  Latin 
Hymns;  Marienlieder,  .\nnenlieder;  Fall  of  Constantinople,  its  Liter- 
ary and  Educational  Influence:  Rise  of  National  Spirit  in  Germany; 
Early  Folk-poets  and  Musicians;  Hans  Sachs,  Isaac,  Senfl  and  Fink: 
Luther,  his  Influence  upon  Music;  the  Chorale;  Early  Hymn-books; 
Use  of  Modern  Scales  and  Abandonment  of  Church  Modes. 

Chapter  VIII.  —  The  Golden  Age  of  Catholic  Church  Music 107 

Influence  of  the  Renaissance;  Willaert  in  Venice;  Rise  of  Harmony 
as  an  .\rt,  contrasted  with  Polyphony;  Return  of  Homophony;  Com- 
posers of  the  New  School  —  the  Gabrielis,  Zarlino,  Schiitz;  Rise  of 
Sublime  Style  of  Polyphony  under  Palestrina  and  his  Followers;  Char- 
acteristics; Exam[)les;  Missa  Papa;  Marcclli;  a  Comparison  of  Lassus 
and  Palestrina. 


Table  of  Contents  xv 


PAGE 


Chapter  IX.  —  The  Birth  of  Opera  and  Oratorio 126 

"Mysteries"  and  "Mirade-plays";  their  gradual  degeneration;  the 
Passion-Play  at  Oberammergau;  Neri  and  his  "Laudes  spirituales," 
leading  into  Oratorio. 

Influence  of  the  Renaissance  on  Secular  Literature  and  Music;  the 
Camerata  —  Bardi,  Galilei,  Strozzi,  Rinuccini,  Cavalieri,  Caccini  and 
Peri;  their  efforts  to  reestablish  Greek  ideals;  First  Attempts  at  Solo 
Song  with  Harmonic  Accompaniment;  the  Invention  of  Recitative 
\stilo  parlante);  Daphne,  the  First  Opera  {dramma  per  musica);  Peri's 
Euridke  {Iragedia  per  musica),  its  libretto,  music,  orchestra,  perform- 
ance; Examples  —  Influence  of  Operatic  Style  on  Oratorio;  Cava- 
lieri's  "The  Soul  and  the  Body." 

Chapter  X.  —  The  Development  of  Italian  Opera 140 

Monteverde;  his  youthful  effort  Ariadne  an  outgrowth  of  the  labors 
of  the  Camerata;  Innovations;  Use  of  Dissonances  for  Dramatic  Pur- 
poses; the  Da  Capo;  Orfeo,  great  advancement  in  orchestral  accom- 
paniment; Description  of  Operas;  Overture,  Interludes,  Beginning 
of  Leitmotiv,  Coloratura  Passages;  Ariadne  in  Oratorio- form;  Tancred, 
introducing  pizzicato  and  tremolo;  Cavalli,  direct  successor  of  Monte- 
verde; Popularization  of  Opera;  Florid  Writing  in /a^o«;  Appearance 
of  the  Aria;  Carissimi;  Appearance  of  the  Voice-Teacher;  Beginning  of 
the  Style  "beautiful,"  carried  on  by  the  Scarlattis;  Coloratura  as  an 
Art.  Form  of  Italian  Opera  at  Beginning  of  Eighteenth  Century,  its 
Characteristics;  Development  in  Same  Style  under  Donizetti,  Bellini, 
Rossini,  the  earlier  Verdi;  Changes  in  Verdi's  later  works;  Boito, 
^lascagni,  Leoncavallo,  Puccini. 

Chapter  XI.  —  French  Opera  from  its  Beginning 159 

Pastoral  Plays;  Robin  and  Marian;  Ballets;  Masques;  Peri's 
Eur  id  ice  in  Paris;  French  Alexandrine  Verse  deemed  unadaptable  to 
Opera;  Xew  I'orm  of  Verse  byPerrin;  "Vaudeville  Pastorale"  by  Cam- 
bert;  I-lrst  French  Opera  Pomona;  Lully,  great  popularity  of  his  works; 
Rameau,  first  French  Grand-Opera  Composer;  Rousseau;  .Attempt  to 
introduce  "movable  Do";  Introduction  of  Opera  Boujjc;  Struggles  for 
Supremacy  by  French  and  Italian  opera  adherents;  Opera  Comique; 
Gluck,  Early  Efforts,  Development,  a  Follower  of  Monteverde's  Style, 
Opponent  of  Contemporary  Italian  Opera;  Orfeo,  Alcestc,  Iphigenia; 
Rivalry  with  Piccini;  Establishment  of  Paris  Conservatory;  Cheru- 
bini,  .\uber,  Boieldieu,  Herold,  .Adam,  Gounod,  Masse,  Massenet, 
Saint-Saens,  Dclibes,  Bizet,  Thomas,  Meyerbeer. 

Chapter  XII.  —  Opera  in  Germany,  and  the  German  Opera 174 

.'^tudcnt  .Song-i)lays  with  Solos  and  Choruses;  Peri's  Euridicr  tran>- 
lated  into  Cicrman,  Music  by  Schutz;    Efforts  at  German  Sacred  Oi^era 


xvi  Table  of  Contents 


PAGE 

in  Hamburg  by  Theile,  Cousser,  Keiser  and  Handel;  Victorious  Reign  of 
Italian  Opera;  Song-plays;  Operettas  by  Haydn  and  others;  Mozart's 
EntfUhrung  and  Magic  Flute;  Beethoven's  Fidelia;  Rise  of  Romantic 
German  Opera;  Weber's  Riibezahl,  Preciosa,  Freischiitz  (with  introduc- 
tion of  the  Leilmotiv),  Euryanthe;  Marschner's  Hans  Heiling;  Rossini's 
William  Tell;  Apex  reached  by  Wagner. 

Chapter  XIII.  —  The  Development  of  the  Music  of  the  Protestant 

Church,  the  Passion  and  the  Oratorio 186 

Influence  of  the  Chorale;  Metrical  Psalter;  English  Hymn-Books  and 
their  Authors;  Merbecke,  Tye,  Tallis,  Byrd,  as  Writers  of  Protestant 
Church  Music;    Morley;    Gibbons. 

Development  of  Passion  Music  in  Germany;  Early  Composers  —  von 
Burck,  Selnecker,  Gesius,  Eccard;  Later  Composers  —  Hassler,  Prae- 
torius,  Schiitz  and  Fux;  examples  of  their  styles;  Vulpius,  Schultz  and 
Sebastiani  direct  precursors  of  Bach;  examples  of  their  styles. 

Chapter  XIV.  —  Bach  and  Handel 203 

Bach.  —  Biographical  Data;  Influence  of  his  Character  upon  his 
Works;  Suites;  Inventions;  the  "Well-tempered  Clavichord";  Mag- 
nificat; 5-minor  Mass;   Passions;   Church  Cantatas. 

Handfx.  —  Biographical  Data;    Travels  and  Musical  Experiences; 

Italian  Operas;    Financial  Failure;    Oratorio  with  Dramatic  Chorus; 

Daily  Association  with  great  Literary  Lights  —  Savage,  Johnson,  Swift, 

Pope,  Addison,  Gay;   his  Oratorio  a  New  Development  of  that  Form. 

Bach  and  Handel  Compared. 

Chapter  XV.  —  The  Development  of  Musical  Instnmients,  and  the 

Rise  of  Instnmiental  Music 217 

Origin  of  Most  Instruments  Obscure;  Rebab  and  Lute  Arabian; 
Chrotta,  Fidula  and  Viole.  Instruments  of  the  Violin  Family;  their 
,  Makers  —  da  Salo,  Maggini,  Amati,  Guarnerius,  Stradivarius;  Violin 
becomes  a  Solo  Instrument;  Madrigals  to  be  sung  {cantata)  and  played 
(sonata);  Town  Musicians;  Dances  "en  suite,"  Suites  or  Ordres;  Com- 
posers—  Couperin,  Marchand,  Rameau,  Bach,  Handel;  the  Overture; 
its  Italian  Origin;  Developed  by  Scarlatti  and  Lully;  Sonata  da  Cliiesa 
and  da  Camera;  Concertos  by  Vivaldi,  Corelli,  Tartini ;  Concerti  grossi  by 
Handel. 

The  Organ.  —  Origin  in  Pandean  pipes;  Early  Mechanism;  in 
hands  of  Church  Musicians;  used  to  support  Church  Alusic;  Improve- 
ment of  the  Keyboard  led  to  Organ  Music  as  an  .\rt;  the  Fugue,  Toccata 
and  Canzone;   Different  Organ  Schools. 

The  Piano.  —  Its  Precursors,  and  their  Development  into  the  Piano- 
forte; Temperament  of  the  Scale.  The  Orchestral  Instruments  —  Flute, 
Oboe,  Bassoon,  English  Horn,  Clarinet,  French  Horn,  Trombone,  Trum- 
pet, Kettledrums;  Rise  of  the  Orchestra. 


Table  of  Contents  xvii 


PAGE 

Chapter  XVI.  —  The  Early  Symphonists 229 

Haydn.  —  Biographical  Data;  Characteristics  of  the  Man  and  his 
Art;  Orchestral  Attempts  and  Successes;  the  "  Sonata-form  " ;  Quartets, 
Symphonies,  Sonatas;  Oratorios. 

Mozart. — Biographical  Data;  Characteristics  of  the  Man  and  his  Art; 
Development  of  Symphonic  Form  in  Content  and  Refinement;  Operatic 
Successes;  Quartets,  Sonatas,  Symphonies. 

Beethoven.  —  Biographical  Data;  Sonatas,  Quartets,  Symphonies; 
Influence  of  Physical  Life  on  his  Works. 

Comparison  of  Haydn,  Mozart  and  Beethoven. 

Chapter  XVII.  —  The  Beginning  of  Romanticism 242 

Causes  leading  to  the  Expression  of  the  Romantic;  Early  Composers; 
Gombert  and  Jannequin;  Revolt  against  Opera  Boujje  leads  to  Romantic 
Opera. 

Schubert.  —  Biographical  Data;  Musical  Characteristics;  Roman- 
ticism in  Songs;   the  Art-song;  other  Works. 

Mendelssohn.  —  Biographical  Data;  his  Works.  Beethoven  as  a 
Romanticist. 

Schumann.  —  Biographical  Data;  hisW'orks;  his  Art;  his  Influence. 

Chapter  XVIII.  —  The    Development    of    Romanticism,   and    the 

Advent  of  the  Great  Virtuosi 254 

The  Successors  of  Mozart  and  Beethoven  as  Piano  Virtuosi  — 
Clementi,  Field,  Cramer,  Berger,  Moscheles,  Hummel,  Dussek,  Czerny; 
their  Works.  —  Violin  Virtuosi,  Successors  of  Tartini  and  Leclair  — 
Viotti,  Rode,  Paganini;  Paganini's  Influence  on  other  Virtuosi  and 
Composers.  —  Spohr;  Berlioz,  "virtuoso  of  the  orchestra";  his 
Romantic  Works;  Program  Music.  —  Thalberg;  Chopin,  his  Style  and 
Works;  Liszt,  his  Style  and  Works;  Influence  of  Thalberg,  Chopin  and 
Liszt  on  Piano-composition;  Romanticism  exhibited  in  their  Works. 
Salon  Music,  its  Composers  and  Piano  Exponents;  Followers  of  Men- 
delssohn, Schumann,  Chopin  and  Liszt  in  the  domain  of  Virtuosity  and 
Composition. 

Chapter  XIX.  —  The  Advent  of  the  Music-Drama,  and  the  Rise  of 

Nationalism 266 

Review  of  Operatic  Conditions  in  Europe  in  the  First  Part  of  the 
Nineteenth  Century;  Wagner;  Biographical  Data;  the  Man,  his  Ideals, 
his  Characteristics;  the  Operatic  Revolution  created  by  his  Works;  his 
Final  Overwhelming  Success;  his  Followers. 

Nationalism  a  New  Arrival;  Characteristics  of  National  Music  of 
Different  Nations;  their  Employment  in  Musical  Art-works  —  Sym- 
phonies, Operas,  etc.  —  The  Personal  Expression  in  Music:  Debussy, 
Strauss. 


xviii  Table  of  Contents 


PAGE 

Chapter  XX.  —  Conclusion 280 

Beginnings  of  Music  in  America;  Music  of  Cavaliers  and  Puritans; 
First  American  Attempts  at  Composition;  William  Billings,  Oliver 
Holden,  Andrew  Law,  Jacob  Kimball,  Daniel  Reed,  Timothy  Swan; 
Early  Singing-schools,  resulting  in  Singing  Societies;  Early  Leaders  — 
Lowell  Mason,  Gottlieb  Graupner.  Opera  in  America;  Orchestras; 
Theodore  Thomas;  Music  Festivals;  Opportunities  in  America; 
Recent  Statistics  of  Music;  Hopes  for  the  Future. 


FAMILIAR  TALKS 

ON   THE    . 

HISTORY    OF    MUSIC 


CHAPTER   I. 

MUSIC  AMONG  THE  NATIONS  OF  REMOTE  ANTIQUITY. 

The  Chinese. 
In  our  historical  search  for  the  expression  and  practice  of 
music  we  turn  first  of  all  to  the  cradle  of  the  human  race, 
southeastern  Asia,  inhabited  by  the  Chinese,  Japanese  and 
Hindoos.  These  nations,  though  geographically  allied  and 
bearing  a  degree  of  mental  resemblance  to  each  other,  pre- 
sent very  striking  contrasts.  These  contrasts  are  due  in  a 
measure  to  their  different  dispositions  or  "make-up,"  which 
may  be  ascribed,  in  part,  to  climatic  conditions.  The  Chi- 
nese conception  of  the  world  and  the  great  works  of  nature 
seems  to  us  rather  insipid  and  prosaic.  Their  imagination  is 
limited;  they  live  the  practical,  utilitarian  life.  Music  orig- 
inated with  them,  as  with  other  nations  of  antiquity,  in 
their  religion,  and  has  long  been  under  state  supervision  in 
order  to  guard  against  the  covert  introduction  of  "tones" 
contrary  to  the  ordinances.  Such  regulation  is,  of  course, 
baneful  to  art  and  its  progress.  They  consider  music  to  ex- 
ist for  two  purposes,  recreation  and  theoretical  investigation, 
and  seem  never  to  have  realized  that  it  is  a  language  for 
the  expression  of  emotion.  Their  theory  of  the  origin  of  the 
tones  of  their  scales  is  very  interesting  as  showing  how  far 
pedantry  will  lead  the  mind  astray.  Their  oldest  musical 
scale  was  limited,  but  not  more  so  than  that  of  other  nations 

I 


2  Familiar  Talks  on  the  History  of  Music 

whose  musical  utterance  is  quite  artistic.  In  their  music- 
system  the  tone  which  we  call  F  is  the  center  of  all  things. 
It  represents  and  is  called  the  Emperor,  and  each  tone  of 
their  original  five-tone  (pentatonic)  scale  F,  G,  A,  C,  D  has  a 
fantastic  name,  referring  usually  to  something  political.  In 
early  times  this  five-tone  scale  was  extended,  for  certain  kinds 
of  music,  to  the  full  octave,  by  the  insertion  of  E  and  B, 
called  "Leaders"  and  "Mediators,"  but  the  songs  of  the 
temple  (in  fact,  all  their  ancient  songs)  are  constructed  on  the 
pentatonic  scale.  Later  they  learned  to  divide  the  octave 
into  twelve  half-steps,  and  then  the  scale  was  called  Lue 
(law),  but  F  always  remained  the  foundation- tone.  They 
had  some  idea  of  harmony,  or  at  least  of  the  relationship  ex- 
isting between  the  principal  tones  of  the  scale,  the  fourth  and 
fifth  and  tonic.  Theoretically,  they  have  84  scales,  all  with 
philosophical  significance,  although  few  of  them  are  in  use. 
Their  literature  of  music,  so  far  as  known,  consists  mostly 
of  theoretical  works  which  show  considerable  discriminative 
power,  collections  of  songs  being  rare.  From  the  theoretical 
works  it  is  evident  that  they  care  Httle  for  the  combination 
of  sounds  in  harmony.  Their  melodies,  excepting  those  of 
the  older  sacred  music  and  the  songs  of  the  sailors  and  moun- 
taineers, lack  definite  outline  and  seem  to  us  vague  and  aim- 
less. The  following  three  examples  of  Chinese  melody  were 
recorded  by  a  Jesuit  missionary.  The  first  is  a  song  in 
praise  of  the  dead,  which  is  very  well  known  and  much  used, 
the  Chinese  being  devout  ancestor-worshippers. 


The  second  melody  was  used  by  Carl  Maria  von  Weber  in 
one  of  his  overtures: 


Music  among  the  Nations  of  Remote  Antiquity 


$ 


-I Uq 


:^cz^KZ 


-=i      e=*     -^ 


:4=f= 


-^ — 1 — hr=t 


-g*     fp 


=<       a'      * 


at=t 


In  this  melody  we  notice  a  decided  element  of  rhythm, 
even  though  it  is  somewhat  monotonous.  Both  of  these 
melodies  are  constructed  on  the  pentatonic  scale. 

The  third  example  is  a  sort  of  antiphonal  song  between  a 
ship's  mate  and  his  sailors: 

The  Mate 


Hei  -  ho,      hei  -  hau  ! 
The  Sailors 


Hei  -  ho,     hei  -  hau  I 


hei  -  hau  ! 


Ilei  -  ho. 


m 


mm 


Hei  -  ho,       hei  -  hau  ! 


Hei  -  ho,    hei  -  hau  ! 


1^ 


:*: 


hei -hau! 


Hei  -  ho,    hei -hau! 


The  last  illustration  is  of  a  decidedly  higher  t>pe  than  the 
others,  as  are  the  songs  of  the  mountaineers.  Is  this  due, 
perhaps,  to  the  fact  that  these  people  see  more  of  the  gran- 
deur of  nature?  That  the  pentatonic  scale  of  the  Chinese  is 
capable  of  much  more  than  these  simple  melodies  is  evident 
from  the  many  charming  Scotch  and  Irish  songs  which  also 


4  Familiar  Talks  on  the  History  of  Music 

have  it  for  their  basis.     As  an  example,  we  might  cite  "Auld 
Lang  Syne"  (in  its  original  form,  not  as  sometimes  edited). 

The  accompaniment  of  their  songs,  which  regularly  in- 
cludes a  small  drum,  is  quite  similar  in  character  to  the  drone 
of  the  bagpipe,  a  very  primitive  device  common  among  most 
musically  untutored  nations.  Their  sense  for  rude  rhythm  is 
manifested  by  their  predilection  for  instruments  of  percus- 
sion. In  the  average  Chinese  orchestra  will  be  found  many 
such  instruments,  consisting  of  drums  of  all  kinds  and  sizes, 
bells,  stones  beaten  with  mallets,  different  kinds  of  cymbals, 
a  row  of  suspended  tuned  copper  plates  or  stones,  wooden 
clappers,  and  even  wooden  tubs,  beaten  sometimes  from  the 
outside  and  sometimes  from  the  inside.  Wind-instruments 
are  less  common.  Some  of  these,  such  as  the  Hiuen,  which 
is  similar  to  an  ocarina,  are  made  of  clay;  others,  like  flutes, 
are  of  wood  or  metal.  Their  most  elaborate  wind-instru- 
ment, and  at  the  same  time  the  most  pleasing,  is  the  Cheng. 
This  is  made  from  a  hollowed  gourd,  in  which  are  inserted  a 
number  of  bamboo  tubes  of  different  lengths.  The  gourd  acts 
as  a  sort  of  wind-chest  into  which  the  player  blows  through  a 
tube,  while  the  vents  in  the  bamboos  are  stopped  with  the 
fingers.  Their  stringed  instruments  are  but  few  in  number 
and  sparingly  represented  in  the  orchestra,  where  one  lone 
fiddle  with  one  or  more  silk  strings  often  carries  the  melody. 
Their  most  popular  musical  instruments  are  the  Kin,  a  primi- 
tive guitar,  and  the  Che,  a  sort  of  large  zither  with  twenty- 
five  strings,  both  said  to  have  been  invented  about  3000  B.C. 
In  spite  of  its  limitations  in  the  matter  of  sustained  tone,  the 
Chinese  regard  their  orchestral  music  as  the  best  in  the  world, 
and  that  of  a  European  orchestra  as  horrible. 

The  Japanese. 

This  island  people,  neighbors  of  and  racially  allied  to  the 
Chinese,  are  more  active  and  energetic,  mentally  and  physi- 
caUy,  than  their  continental  kinsfolk.  Although  they  revere 


Music  among  the  Nations  of  Remote  Antiquity  5 

music  very  highly,  they  have,  artistically,  fallen  below  even 
Chinese  standards.  Many  of  their  instruments,  especially 
the  percussives,  resemble  those  of  the  Chinese;  they  also 
have  the  Kin  and  the  Cheng.  We  note  a  new  instrument, 
however,  made  out  of  a  sea-shell,  with  a  tube  inserted  therein, 
used  somewhat  like  a  trumpet.  They  have  many  stringed 
instruments  somewhat  Uke  the  mandolin  and  the  lute,  the 
most  popular  of  which,  used  for  accompanying  songs,  is  the 
Samisen,  played  with  a  plectrum  (pick)  Hke  that  used  in  play- 
ing the  mandolin.  An  old  picture  of  a  Japanese  orchestra 
(and  a  family  orchestra,  at  that)  shows  three  men  and  four 
women,  whose  instruments  are  a  flute,  a  very  large  drum 
(played  at  both  ends),  two  bell-rattles,  two  wooden  clappers 
and  two  small  drums,  the  flute  sustaining  the  melody  above 
all  these  instruments  of  percussion.  Their  melodies  resemble 
those  of  the  Chinese,  having  the  pentatonic  scale  for  their 
basis,  but  their  musicians  are  not  so  much  addicted  to  theo- 
retical discussion.  That  they  have  reahzed  the  comparative 
poverty  of  their  music  is  evidenced  by  the  fact  that  in  1879 
the  Japanese  government  engaged  an  American,  Luther 
Whiting  Mason,  to  estabhsh  the  ideas  and  methods  of  occi- 
dental music  in  their  schools. 

The  Hindoos. 

Here  we  have  a  people  endowed  with  a  most  vivid  imagina- 
tion. Living  in  a  climate  nearly  tropical,  and  in  a  country 
rich  in  verdure  and  teeming  with  the  gifts  of  nature,  their  out- 
look upon  life  is  decidedly  different  from  that  of  the  nations 
mentioned  before.  Among  them  the  origin  of  music  is  again 
found  in  their  religion,  it  being  considered  as  derived  directly 
from  the  gods.  Sarasvati,  the  wife  of  Brahma,  is  revered  as 
the  donor  of  the  Vina,  the  national  musical  instrument.  She 
is  considered  the  guardian  of  music,  with  a  special  god,  Na- 
reda,  as  a  sort  of  prime  minister.  One  of  the  great  books 
of  the  Brahmins,  the  Rig- Veda  (1500  B.C.),  contains  many 


6  Familiar  Talks  on  the  History  of  Music 

hymns  whose  melodies  are  ascribed  to  the  gods.  Some  of 
these  melodies,  called  Ragas,  were  supposed  to  be  capable  of 
extraordinary  efifects.  One  of  them,  the  Raga  of  Fire,  was 
said  to  possess  the  power  of  calKng  fire  from  heaven,  and 
legend  tells  of  a  popular  singer,  who,  wishing  to  try  the  effect 
of  this  Raga,  immersed  himself  up  to  his  neck  in  a  river,  where 
he  perished  because  the  water  began  to  boil.  Another  Raga 
was  supposed  to  have  the  power  of  calUng  down  rain  and  thus 
saving  the  country  from  drought;  while  still  another  could 
eclipse  the  sun's  rays,  all  because  of  the  effect  of  the  melody. 
The  Hindoo  scale,  like  that  of  the  other  ancient  nations,  was 
at  first  pentatonic,  but  later  was  expanded  to  seven  tones 
and  still  later  throughout  three  octaves.  Their  subdivision 
of  the  octave  is  very  curious,  the  whole  steps  being  divided 
sometimes  into  four  and  sometimes  into  three  equal  parts, 
while  the  half-steps  are  divided  into  two  quarter-steps,  mak- 
ing a  division  of  twenty-two  tones  to  the  octave.  It  is  evi- 
dent that  this  series  of  twenty-two  tones  was  not  practicable 
for  singers  or  players  in  any  one  melody,  although  the  quar- 
ter-steps were  used  in  certain  portions  of  a  scale  for  the  pur- 
pose of  forming  a  new  one.  Theoretically,  they  had  sixteen 
thousand  scales,  mythologically  explained  in  the  story  of  the 
sixteen  thousand  Gopis  (beautiful  maidens),  each  of  whom,  in 
her  efforts  to  secure  the  love  of  Krishna,  invented  her  own 
scale,  hoping  by  a  new  form  of  melody  to  win  his  favor.  In 
time  the  number  of  scales  was  reduced  by  the  theorists  to 
nine  hundred  and  sixty,  then  to  thirty-six,  and  even  as  low 
as  twenty-three,  but  the  thirty-six  were  generally  retained. 
Their  most  important  scale  was  the  Sriraga,  corresponding  to 
our  yl -major  scale. 

Hindoo  poetry  is  of  varying  rhythm  and  meter,  and  the 
melodies  of  the  songs  correspond.  Their  music  is  very  diffi- 
cult of  notation  because  of  numerous  rules  for  the  guidance  of 
the  artists  and  the  many  licenses  and  liberties  allowed  them. 
While  their  more  modern  music  may  not  be  much  Hke  that 


Music  among  the  Nations  of  Remote  Antiquity 


of  past  ages,  their  oldest  songs,  which  were  memorized  and 
chanted,  are  still  in  common  use.  Below  will  be  found  a  top- 
ical Hindustanee  melody. 


izt=*E=:ii: 


^=g=j: 


1—    '*>  •^- 


=J?=i:=fqK 


f.mi*ii= 


E^=fe^ 


^:^:rdz 


:g:=j:=,>:»-  ij^^tzr^ir^ziiz^-  :*=g=:^=gia-  :;^=^^z::p-  -^-^ 


Their  characteristic  national  instrument,  the  Vina,  consists 
of  a  tube  some  three  feet  in  length,  having  a  gourd-like  hol- 
low sphere  attached  underneath  at  each  end.  It  has  nineteen 
movable  bridges  and  seven  strings,  which,  by  shifting  the 
bridges,  are  capable  of  producing  a  chromatic  scale.  Another 
of  their  stringed  instruments  is  the  Serinda,  a  sort  of  violin 
shaped  like  a  mandolin,  but  with  indented  sides,  allowing  it 
to  be  played  with  a  bow.  The  percussives  and  wind-instru- 
ments resemble  those  of  the  Chinese,  but  their  use  is  less 
universal.  Their  poetry  is  of  a  high  order,  and  many  of  their 
dramas  were  produced  with  music.  Notable  among  these  is 
the  one  telling  the  story  of  Krishna's  quarrel  with  the  gods, 
which  contains  both  songs  and  choruses.  All  in  all,  the 
Hindoos  were  further  advanced  in  instrumental  music,  as 
well  as  in  musical  form,  than  the  other  nations  of  remote 
antiquity. 


8  Familiar  Talks  on  the  History  of  Music 

The  Egyptians,  Africans  and  Western  Asiatics. 

Egypt  has  been  named  ''the  land  of  monuments,"  and  the 
Egyptians  "the  monumental  people  of  history."  In  examin- 
ing the  music  of  this  interesting  people  we  are  instantly  re- 
minded of  its  disadvantages,  as  compared  with  the  plastic 
arts,  in  the  matter  of  records.  A  sound  is,  after  all,  the  crea- 
tion of  a  moment,  and  then  vanishes.  Even  when  records 
were  made  on  papyrus,  they  were  easy  of  destruction  as  com- 
pared with  the  pyramids.  Music  took  a  leading  part  in  the 
temple  worship  of  the  Egyptians,  and  its  origin  was  attrib- 
uted by  them  to  the  goddess  Isis.  Plato,  after  his  travels  in 
Eg>pt,  said  that  he  believed  their  sacred  songs  to  be  not  less 
than  ten  thousand  years  old,  and  that  they  must  have  ema- 
nated from  the  gods  or  from  god-like  men,  because  of  their 
power  to  exalt  and  ennoble  mankind.  The  Egyptians  also 
ascribe  the  origin  of  some  of  their  primitive  melodies  to  the 
gods.  The  "mighty  Ptah"  alluded  to  in  Verdi's  Aida  is 
represented  as  a  player  on  the  harp.  A  curious  similarity 
between  the  mythology  of  the  Egyptians  and  the  Greeks  is 
noticeable,  Osiris,  the  Egyptian  patron  of  music,  being  repre- 
sented accompanied  by  nine  female  singers,  like  Phoebus- 
Apollo  with  the  nine  Muses  among  the  Greeks.  The  division 
of  the  people  into  castes  bred  a  conservatism  which  was  inten- 
sified by  lack  of  intercourse  with  the  rest  of  the  world,  made 
difficult  because  the  land  is  virtually  an  oasis  in  the  desert. 
The  poetry  of  the  Egyptians  is  so  lofty  in  conception  that 
if  their  music  was  at  all  commensurate  in  expression,  it  must 
indeed  have  been  sublime  and  of  great  effect. 

We  have  little  information  regarding  their  tonal  s^'stem. 
Walls  of  temples  and  tombs  furnish  us  with  representations 
of  musical  instruments  and  processions  of  musicians,  but  with 
no  idea  of  the  actual  quality  of  their  music.  However,  in 
view  of  the  fact  that  they  have  been  exceedingly  tenacious  in 
the  continuation  of  their  religious  ceremonial  and  philosophic 


Music  among  the  Nations  of  Remote  Antiquity  9 

ideals,  we  may  reasonably  assume  that  many  of  the  melo- 
dies in  use  among  the  common  people  of  to-day  are  handed 
down  from  remote  antiquity.  If  this  assumption  be  correct, 
their  scale  was  even  more  limited  than  that  of  other  ancient 
nations,  in  that  it  had  but  four  tones,  like  the  tetrachord  of 
the  Greeks.  Their  far-removed  ancestors,  the  Abyssinians, 
used  the  same  four-tone  diatonic  scale  in  their  melodies. 
Architecture  was,  in  point  of  fact,  the  predominant  art  of  the 
Egyptians,  for  even  their  sculpture  is  in  a  measure  architec- 
tural, being  limited  by  unchangeable  lines.  Because  of  their 
conservatism,  their  music  was  probably  equally  limited. 
Musical  investigation,  however,  proves  that  even  the  tetra- 
chordal  scale  is  capable  of  great  variety,  and  that  its  use 
often  gives  the  character  of  grandeur.  Mozart  used  it  in 
The  Magic  Flute  and  Don  Giovanni;  Gluck  in  his  Alceste; 
while  Verdi  gives  a  fine  example  in  Aida.  William  Edward 
Lane,  in  his  book  on  "Egypt  and  Its  Customs,"  presents 
the  following  examples  of  ancient  Egyptian  melodies. 


^II^^z 


-i^\ 


What  especially  interests  us  in  these  melodies  is  their  form 
(the  idea  of  repetition  of  certain  phrases  making  for  unity), 
and  the  fact  that  they  lie  within  the  tetrachord.  It  is  pos- 
sible that,  unhke  other  nations,  they  had  an  appreciation  of 
harmony,  for  the  pictures  of  groups  of  musicians  in  the  tombs 
display  a  series  of  various  musical  instruments,  such  as  large 
harps  with  many  strings,  small  harps,  instruments  like  the 


lo  Familiar  Talks  on  the  History  of  Music 

guitar,  lyres,  and  flutes  of  different  lengths.  Since  the  harp- 
players  are  represented  as  using  both  hands  together,  some- 
thing hardly  necessary  for  the  performance  of  their  limited 
melodies,  they  may  have  furnished  harmonic  support.  The 
harp  was  apparently  their  most  important  instrument,  for  it 
appears  (pictorially)  to  have  been  of  many  sizes  and  kinds, 
and  played  in  various  manners  —  over  the  shoulder,  standing 
and  kneeling,  with  many  strings  and  with  few.  The  l>Te  they 
used  is  a  modification  of  an  Asiatic  instrument.  The  Kem- 
Kem  (the  Sistrum  of  the  Hebrews)  consisted  of  a  bronze 
frame  crossed  by  four  metal  bars  with  jingling  appendages, 
and  was  used  for  the  purpose  of  attracting  attention  during 
some  portion  of  their  temple  worship,  like  the  bell  at  Mass 
in  the  Catholic  Church.  We  find  the  same  instrument  again, 
under  another  name,  in  the  idol-worship  of  the  Romans, 
where  it  is  called  the  "Isis  clapper,"  the  name  proving  its 
Egyptian  origin.  The  Egyptians  ascribed  to  this  instrument 
the  power  to  drive  away  evil,  as  well  as  the  power  of  intimi- 
dation, and  therefore  used  it  in  battle  to  frighten  their  enemies. 
Prolonged  investigation  has  revealed  the  fact  that  the 
music  of  the  Egyptians  was  in  many  respects  closely  allied 
to  that  of  the  Greeks,  the  Hebrews,  the  Phoenicians,  and  also 
to  that  of  the  Ethiopians,  their  nearest  neighbors.  The  Ethi- 
opians have  many  instruments  in  common  with  them,  such 
as  the  Sistrum,  lyres,  drums  and  harps,  and  the  relationship 
is  especially  noticeable  in  their  melodies,  even  though  they 
are  more  primitive.     Following  is  an  Ethiopian  melody: 

7.      __  r—'-m  

The  inhabitants  of  western  Asia  form  a  great  contrast  to 
the  Egyptians.  The  Assyrians,  Babylonians,  Chaldeans, 
Lydians,  Phrygians,  Medes  and  Persians  exhibit  in  their 
music  decided  differences  in  their  conception  of  the  art  as  well 
as  in  their  methods  of  performance.     Their  music  was  used 


Music  among  the  Nations  of  Remote  Antiquity        ii 

mostly  in  idolatrous  praise  of  their  despotic  rulers.  Among 
their  instruments  we  notice  the  smaller  portable  harp  played 
with  a  plectrum,  the  Kinnor  (the  triangular  harp  of  the  He- 
brews), and  the  Dulcimer,  a  square  wooden  box  strung  with 
metal  strings  which  were  struck  with  a  hammer  —  one  of  the 
great-great-grandfathers  of  the  piano.  Religious  music  among 
these  nations  was  for  the  most  part  superficial  and  effeminate, 
despite  their  otherwise  warlike  spirit. 

While,  as  we  have  seen,  nearly  all  these  nations  of  an- 
tiquity believed  music  to  be  of  divine  origin,  none  of  them 
so  thoroughly  realized  this  conception  as  did  the  Hebrews, 
whose  efforts  we  are  next  to  consider. 


CHAPTER    II. 

MUSIC  AMONG  THE  HEBREWS,  GREEKS  AND   ROMANS. 

In  considering  the  music  of  remote  antiquity  we  have  seen 
that  its  most  important  function  was  in  religious  worship. 
The  Hebrews  also  gave  it  great  importance  in  their  temple 
service.  More  than  any  other  ancient  nation  do  they  give 
evidence  of  the  feeling  that  music  is  something  supernatural, 
something  divine  —  or  that  it  contains,  at  least,  a  breath  of 
the  divine.  In  the  Hebrew  biblical  accounts  we  find  abun- 
dant testimony  that  music  was  used  for  the  purpose  of  creat- 
ing in  man  a  feeling  of  awe,  to  induce  in  him  a  spiritual 
state  proper  for  the  reception  of  messages  from  on  high,  to 
bring  to  his  consciousness  whatever  in  him  was  divine. 

The  tribe  of  Levi  —  the  tribe  of  the  priests  —  cultivated 
music  as  one  of  the  studies  necessary  for  becoming  an  acolyte. 
The  liturgy  of  the  church  was  noble,  and  the  lofty  character 
of  its  poetry  is  exemplified  in  the  thoughts  of  Isaiah  and  Eze- 
kiel,  which  are  expressed  in  wonderfully  sonorous  language, 
replete  with  flowery  metaphor  and  full  of  Oriental  poetic 
imagery. 

There  is  abundant  evidence  in  the  Bible  and  in  the  UTit- 
ings  of  Josephus,  the  great  Jewish  historian,  that  the  music 
of  the  temple  service  consisted  of  what  we  call  antiphonal 
singing;  that  is,  one  choir  sang  a  strain  and  a  second  choir 
answered,  sometimes  the  men  on  one  side  and  the  women  on 
the  other,  or  both  on  either  side,  something  like  the  prelimi- 
nary service  in  the  modern  Episcopal  Church,  when  the  rector 
reads  and  the  congregation  answers  with  a  line  or  stanza. 
This  antiphonal  singing  led,  in  later  years,  to  a  great  advance 
in  musical  art.     A  predominating  idea  throughout  man}-  of 


Music  among  the  Hebrews,  Greeks  and  Romans        13 

the  Psalms,  as  well  as  most  Oriental  writings,  is  what  is  called 
"parallelism,"  that  is,  the  utterance  of  a  thought  followed 
by  a  sequel,  which  either  reiterates  that  thought  in  other 
words,  or  is  a  commentary  thereon. 

"  The  earth  is  the  Lord's,  and  the  fullness  thereof." 

Now,  that  is  a  direct  statement.      The  sequel  follows: 
"The  world,  and  they  that  dwell  therein." 

Note  that  "earth"  and  "world,"  as  here  used,  mean  exactly 
the  same  thing,  forming  a  parallelism  —  the  same  thought 
rep>eated  in  different  words. 

"  For  He  hath  founded  it  upon  the  seas," 

and  the  sequel 

"And  established  it  upon  the  floods." 

Here,  again,  we  have  the  same  thought  expressed  in  other 

words; 

**Who  shall  ascend  into  the  hill  of  the  Lord?" 

That  is  iteration;  now  comes  the  reiteration: 

"And  who  shall  stand  in  His  holy  place?" 

Many  of  the  Psalms  are  constructed  in  this  antiphonal 
manner. 

The  whole  Jewish  ritual  strove  to  realize  the  ideal  of  the 
grand  song  of  praise  to  be  sung  in  the  hereafter,  and  was  full 
of  beautiful,  poetic  conceptions.  Even  to-day  it  is  one  of 
the  most  potent  art-influences  in  the  world,  and  the  Jews 
have  been  ministers  of  art  in  all  lands.  They  have  been 
celebrated  in  modern  music  as  well  as  in  the  music  of  the 
ancient  temple,  and  there  is  ample  evidence  that  even  in 
antiquity  music  played  a  part  in  their  daily  social  life.  In 
Genesis  xxxi  :  27,  Laban  says  to  Jacob,  when  the  latter  re- 
turns after  a  long  absence,    "WTierefore  didst  thou  .... 


14  Familiar  Talks  on  the  History  of  Music 

steal  away  from  me,  and  didst  not  tell  me,  that  I  might  have 
sent  thee  away  with  mirth,  and  with  songs,  with  tabret,  and 
with  harp?"  This  means  that  they  would  have  had  a  fare- 
well feast  together  with  music  as  a  prominent  feature. 

During  the  Captivity,  the  music  of  their  ritual  was  prob- 
ably influenced  by  the  music  of  Egypt,  for  while  we  know 
that  the  Jews  had  and  have  a  remarkable  capacity  to  retain 
and  discriminate,  we  also  know  that  they  possess  the  ability 
to  assimilate  that  which  is  best  from  others. 

Jewish  Psalmody  began  with  David,  and  is  really  the 
foundation  of  our  ecclesiastical  music,  for  the  hymnologies  of 
the  nineteenth  century  derive  their  strength  from  the  hymns 
which,  sung  thousands  of  years  ago,  inspired  the  Jews  in 
their  struggles  for  religious  and  civil  liberty.  Their  religious 
music  was  their  national  music,  and  all  history  shows  that 
rehgion  and  patriotism  exercise  a  powerful  and  enduring  in- 
fluence upon  the  life  and  character  of  any  people. 

In  some  old  manuscript  copies  of  the  Psalms  are  marks,  or 
"curlicues,"  that  look  Hke  enlargements  of  germs  or  bacilli. 
These  marks  were  used  for  the  purpose  of  indicating  how 
the  voice  was  to  proceed,  whether  up  or  down,  how  far  up, 
how  far  down,  or  whether  it  was  to  continue  on  a  level,  that 
is,  on  the  same  tone.  In  the  fourth  and  fifth  centuries  of 
the  Christian  era,  similar  marks  called  neumes  appear.  We 
shall  meet  with  them  further  on,  more  definite  in  shape  and 
more  easily  deciphered. 

Their  musical  instruments  were  so  restricted  in  tone- 
power  and  quality,  that  the  development  of  instrumental 
music  was  necessarily  equally  limited,  but  large  choirs  and 
great  bodies  of  players  were  often  brought  together.  We 
read  in  Chronicles  that  at  one  of  the  temple  services  four 
thousand  Levites  played  on  these  primitive  instruments,  and 
two  hundred  and  eighty-eight  singers  took  part.  While  the 
Bible  gives  the  names  of  the  Jewish  instruments,  an  idea  of 
their  appearance  can  be  obtained  only  from  the  monuments 


Music  among  the  Hebrews,  Greeks  and  Romans        15 

of  antiquity,  the  great  Egyptian  tombs.  In  the  picture  of  a 
Jewish  procession,  on  the  inner  walls  of  the  tomb  of  Beni- 
Hassan,  supposedly  representing  the  family  of  Jacob  on  its 
visit  to  Joseph,  there  are  thirty-seven  performers  on  musical 
instruments.  Only  one  of  these  carries  what  was  called  a  I^tc, 
a  small,  hollow  wooden  instrument,  like  a  box,  with  a  number 
of  strings  stretched  across  an  opening  in  its  center.  These 
short  strings,  played  pizzicato  with  a  plectrum,  could  of 
course  not  yield  much  sound,  but  a  number  of  them  played 
together  probably  produced  a  considerable  volume.  Among 
these  instruments  is  also  to  be  seen  the  Kinnor,  a  small 
triangular  harp  that  was  in  general  and  even  household  use. 
When  we  read  of  David's  harp,  and  that  "they  hung  their 
harps  upon  the  willow- trees,"  the  Kinnor  is  meant.  In  ad- 
dition to  these  two  instruments  are  depicted  the  Xebel,  a 
large  harp  played  with  both  hands;  the  psaltery,  flutes, 
small  trumpets  and  small  cymbals;  others  in  that  procession 
do  not  carry  any  instruments  at  all,  but  apparently  simply 
clapped  their  hands  to  mark  the  rhythm,  like  the  negroes  in 
their  "juba." 

Another  instrument  in  general  use  among  the  Hebrews 
resembled  the  Greek  pipes  of  Pan,  or  Pandean  pipes,  and  was 
called  the  Ugabh.  The  pipes  of  Pan  were  originally  made 
of  dry  reeds  from  the  riverside.  These  reeds  were  cut  to 
certain  lengths  and  joined  together,  and  when  one  blew 
across  the  ends  of  them,  they  produced,  according  to  their 
length,  tones  of  high  or  low  pitch.  Out  of  the  principle  of 
these  Pandean  pipes  was  evolved,  in  the  course  of  time,  the 
organ.  The  earliest  of  the  small  trumpets  were  made  out  of 
rams'  horns.  By  the  way,  the  ram's  horn,  or  SJwfar.  i>  still 
used  in  every  Jewish  community.  At  the  beginning  of  the 
Jewish  year,  the  Shofar  is  blown  in  every  synagogue;  this 
is  quite  an  important  ceremony,  and  he  who  has  the  Shofar  is 
highly  honored,  and  blows  upon  it  a  call  such  as  can  be  pla\ed 
on  a  cornet  or  bugle  without  pressing  the  pistons  or  keys. 


1 6  Familiar  Talks  on  the  History  of  Music 

Evidence  of  the  tenacity  with  which  the  Jews  have  held 
to  their  religious  customs  through  the  passing  centuries  is 
found  in  the  fact  that  in  all  orthodox  synagogues  at  Vienna 
or  Dresden,  Jerusalem  or  Constantinople  or  New  York,  the 
call  of  the  Shofar  is  identical. 

The  Jews,  more  than  any  other  nation,  had  a  lofty  ideal  of 
the  power  of  music.  In  proof  of  this,  two  instances  related 
in  the  Bible  may  be  cited.  When  Elisha  was  asked  to 
prophesy,  he  at  first  refused,  because  he  was  among  an  alien 
people;  but  after  they  had  implored  him  to  grant  their 
prayer,  he  said,  "Bring  me  a  minstrel,"  and  the  biblical 
account  states  that  during  the  singing  of  this  minstrel, 
the  spirit  of  God  came  upon  him  so  that  he  was  enabled 
to  prophesy.  At  the  dedication  of  the  second  temple, 
when,  after  much  alternate  praying  and  singing,  the  congre- 
gation was  waiting  for  the  Shekinah  to  come  from  Heaven, 
it  was  only  "when  all  had  lifted  up  their  voices  as  of  one 
accord,  that  the  spirit  of  God  came  down  and  filled  the 
house." 

The  following  examples  of  Israelitish  song  should  prove  of 
interest.  "Miriam's  Song"  (No.  8)  is,  according  to  Dr. 
Landau,  chief  Rabbi  at  Dresden,  one  of  the  most  ancient  of 
Hebrew  melodies,  for  it  is  sung,  with  but  the  slightest  varia- 
tion, in  all  the  synagogues  of  Europe. 


8. 

^T !^ — *— = 

[:EJ±i=:^_d; 1^ « h-, 

ZT^^* 

f^^-^-^;^E^^,==:^s==^.--s^.-.= 

-w    \w  ■     1^-    ■    1 

At  the  close  of  the  services,  in  the  synagogue  at  Dresden, 
the  following  characteristic  and  quite  Oriental  melody  is  still 
sung. 


Music  among  the  Hebrews,  Greeks  and  Romans        17 


msM 


=zV-q-b*- 


:s::=t;t: 


l£=- 


=U={5: 


^W^=::^ir: 


^ 


?-b*— 


ic:i::^r~r 


S^=*c 


=F^ h- 


=»=:=P=i^: 


"=^=!^=^^^*=i^ 


-*i*^p» 


:  r     :  - 


-:m^:^^--f.-»-m.-^-- 


^0       0  TJ 


lii 


1 


i?^ 


The  peculiar  melody,  printed  below,  is  claimed  on  excellent 
authority  to  be  that  of  the  first  stanza  of  an  ancient  Jewish 
hymn  for  a  solo  voice,  with  interspersed  choral  exclamations, 
and  each  stanza  is  said  to  increase  in  melodic  fioriditv. 


10.       Solo 


-fl*-W-*-r»- 


:^^BE£EE:^EEgEEB= 


^= 


Chorus     Solo 

■0-  -»-  n^     -<9-      -0-  -ts- 


Music  among  the  Greeks. 

Among  the  Greeks  we  also  find  a  lofty,  ideal  conception  of 
the  power  of  music;  and  not  only  among  the  poets  and 
musicians,  but  among  philosophers,  law-givers  and  judges  of 
the  courts.     The  Greeks  also  believed  that  music  came  from 


1 8  Familiar  Talks  on  the  History  of  Music 

the  gods,  and  was  something  that  could,  in  its  highest  sense, 
be  used  only  for  the  worship  of  the  gods.  Pythagoras,  whom 
we  remember  in  mathematics,  tells  of  the  relation  of  number 
and  ''harmony,"  which  was  the  name  then  given  to  music. 
He  was  the  chief  pioneer  in  researches  on  musical  acoustics, 
and  formulated  the  idea  of  the  relationship  of  tones  to  each 
other.  By  means  of  the  Monochord  (a  wooden  box  over 
which  was  stretched  a  metal  string  whose  vibrating  length 
could  be  shortened  or  lengthened  by  a  movable  bridge),  he 
discovered  the  true  relationship  of  the  fourth,  fifth  and 
octave  of  a  given  tone;  that  three-fourths  of  the  length  of  a 
string  would  produce  its  fourth;  two-thirds,  its  fifth;  and 
one-half  of  the  string,  its  octave.  We  find  the  same  principle 
applied  in  playing  the  vioHn;  and  the  "frets"  on  the  mando- 
lin take  the  place  of  the  bridge  of  the  Monochord.  When 
playing  the  tones  of  the  scale  on  a  vioHn,  we  apply  the  prin- 
ciple that  Pythagoras  discovered,  for  the  finger  pressing  the 
string  on  the  finger-board  shortens  the  vibrating  part.  Be- 
cause of  the  numerical  simplicity  of  each  of  their  ratios,  he 
declared^  the  fourths,  fifths  and  octaves  to  be  perfect  musical 
consonances,  just  as  we  do  to-day.  It  is  undoubtedly  due  to 
this  declaration  that,  in  the  first  attempts  at  music  for  two 
and  more  voices,  these  intervals  were  deemed  the  proper 
ones  to  be  used. 

The  relationship  between  a  tone  and  its  third  he  found  to 
be  so  complex  that  he  and  his  followers  regarded  it  as  a  dis- 
sonance; this  interval  was  consequently  avoided  by  the  early 
composers,  except  in  certain  kinds  of  secular  music.  Pythag- 
oras was  so  much  esteemed  and  revered  that  many  people 
followed  his  teachings  and  became  his  disciples,  a  whole  sect 
calling  themselves  "Pythagoreans."  In  that  sect  (or  club, 
as  we  might  call  it),  music,  mathematics  and  astronomy  were 
ranked  side  by  side  as  great  developers  of  the  mind;  and  an 
ability  to  play  on  the  lyre  and  to  sing  were  requisites  for 
admission. 


Music  among  the  Hebrews,  Greeks  and  Romans       ig 


Plato,  too,  was  a  great  admirer  of  the  power  of  music,  and 
speaks  of  it  as  the  purger  of  evil  passions.  Terpander  was 
another  of  the  Greek  promoters  of  musical  art,  and  Olympus 
(not  the  mountain,  but  the  man)  tells  us  how  common  was 
the  use  of  music  in  social  circles  as  early  as  600  B.C.  Just 
what  that  music  was  like  we  have  but  a  vague  idea.  Pindar, 
one  of  the  greatest  Greek  poets  (522  B.C.),  and  a  disciple  of 
Pythagoras,  was  celebrated  for  his  melodic  invention;  one 
of  his  odes  was  preserved,  and  has  been  deciphered  and  ar- 
ranged by  the  German  savant,  Westphal.  It  consists  of  a 
solo,  followed  by  a  chorus  of  Citharodes. 

11.     Corypheus 


^^^^^^^^^^^^^=^= 


c=gi= 


^^m 


mi 


* — ^ 


Their  instrumental  music  was,  of  course,  limited,  but  that 
they  made  much  out  of  it  is  evident  from  the  fact  that  it 
made  such  a  deep  impression  on  them.  Flute-pla>-ing  was 
common  among  them  also,  and  rival  methods  of  teaching  the 
flute  were  already  in  vogue  in  600  B.C. 

Nowadays  we  talk  of  banquet  or  after-dinner  speakers. 
In  those  times  there  were  no  after-dinner  speakers,  but  there 
were  after-dinner  singers.  They  sang,  they  improvised. 
The  opera  of  Tannhduser  affords  examples  (translated  into 
modern  terms!)  of  improvisation  as  it  was  carried  on  in  the 
early  Middle  Ages.     You  may  remember  that  in  this  opera 


20  Familiar  Talks  on  the  History  of  Music 

the  Landgrave  offers  the  hand  of  his  daughter,  Elizabeth,  to 
him  who  shall  best  improvise  upon  a  given  subject.  Not 
only  knights,  but  even  servants,  were  allowed  to  compete  in 
this  banquet-song  —  for  that  is  virtually  what  it  was.  The 
Greeks  knew  this  art  and  practised  it.  They  began  it  by 
singing  of  their  heroes,  but  later  they  sang  stories  full  of 
beautiful  thoughts  and  poetic  imagery. 

In  France  and  England,  during  the  Middle  Ages,  people 
were  afraid  to  have  a  song  made  about  them,  for  if  it  was  a 
song  of  ridicule  or  criticism  it  was  often  the  political  end  of 
the  person  sung  about.  Even  in  the  nineteenth  century  the 
*'Song  of  the  Shirt,"  Hood's  poem,  when  sung  (though  to  a 
very  ordinary  tune),  stirred  all  England  from  center  to  cir- 
cumference, changed  its  laws,  and  gave  the  workingmen 
rights  they  had  never  had  before  and  of  which  they  had  not 
even  dreamed.  —  The  Greeks  had  similar  ideas  of  the  power 
exercised  by  music  over  men's  minds  on  certain  occasions. 

The  Greek  system  of  music  was  based  upon  ''modes,"  of 
which  we  shall  learn  more  later.  Measure,  in  our  sense  of 
the  word,  did  not  yet  exist  independently,  the  rhythm  of  the 
song  being  derived  from  that  of  the  text.  The  early  Greek 
scales  were  Hke  those  of  the  Egyptians,  limited  to  four  tones, 
and  formed  what  we  call  tetrachords  {tetra  meaning  four). 
The  half-step  (e-f)  in  them  was  immovable,  and  the  position 
of  the  half-step  in  this  small  scale  determined  the  mode. 
Two  such  tetrachords  were  in  the  course  of  time  used  to  form 
the  octave-scale. 


12.     Tetrachord                           Tetrachord 

Dorian  Octave-Scale,  or  Mode 

-i?^ — ^ — ! — ■ — J  r,  "  f» 

— • — 

-1*— 

— ir:: 

— 1 H J -^ » *— : 

Phrygian  Mode 

— • — 

=^ 

—*--•— ^—^ ? \ 1  — 

Lydian  Mode 

m       J       •-•-^:^-'- 

-t— 

zt-iiz: 

=± 

__,^-^-J=-^^-t*  fl 

Tetrachord  Tetrachord  Tetrachord  Tetrachord 


Music  among  the  Hebrews,  Greeks  and  Romans        21 

The  Greeks  attributed  different  emotional  and  ethical 
effects  to  melodies  based  on  their  different  scales,  as  inducing 
different  moods.  Melodies  based  on  the  Dorian  scale  were 
considered  to  inspire  respect  for  law  and  order,  obedience, 
courage  and  independence,  and  therefore  adapted  to  the 
education  of  youths;  those  based  on  the  Lydian  scale  were 
considered  by  some  philosophers,  such  as  Plato,  to  possess 
an  enervating  tendency;  while  for  those  based  upon  the 
Phrygian  scale  was  claimed  the  power  of  inspiration. 

The  early  Greek  tonal  system  provided  for  the  extension 
of  the  scale  into  two  octaves,  and  was  therefore  capable  of 
considerable  melodic  expression.  The  insertion  of  quarter- 
steps,  borrowed  probably  from  their  Asiatic  neighbors,  did 
not  improve  the  original  system,  for,  after  all,  neither  the 
human  voice  nor  musical  instruments  could  more  than  ap- 
proximate their  pitch. 

The  Greek  idea  of  melody  was,  that  it  should  be  a  rein- 
forcement of  poetic  diction  by  means  of  fine  gradations  and 
inflections  of  rhythm  and  tone.  They  had  many  musicians 
who  were  not  poets,  but  most  of  their  poets  were  musicians. 
They  thought  music  was  the  foundation  of  all  science,  and  it 
was  said  that  ''nothing  great  could  be  expected  from  a  man 
who  was  ignorant  of  music."  One  of  the  reasons  why  Greek 
poetry  is  in  some  respects  far  superior  to  Latin  poetry  is 
found  in  the  fact  that  the  Greek  poets  were  musicians. 

At  a  later  time,  when  philosophy,  poetry  and  music  were 
separated,  all  three  were  at  first  weakened.  The  philosophers 
spoke  no  more  through  the  medium  of  poetry,  nor  the  poets 
through  the  medium  of  melody;  still  later,  however,  the 
separation  proved  the  means  of  a  great  development  in  each. 
In  the  Athenian  drama,  the  Athenian  tragedy,  we  find  the 
union  of  poetry,  music  and  mimetic  action;  and  many  great 
composers  of  recent  centuries,  beginning  with  those  who  made 
the  first  attempts  at  opera,  strove  to  realize  what  they  thought 
was  the  Greek  ideal.     Monteverde  did  it;    Puccini  did  it: 


22  Familiar  Talks  on  the  History  of  Music 

the  first  really  great  opera-composer,  Gluck,  did  it,  for  all  his 
later  operas  follow  his  conception  of  the  Greek  style,  and  are 
on  Greek  subjects.  He  tried  to  revive  the  ideal  which  the 
Greeks  had  apparently  reached. 

The  decUne  of  an  art  begins  when  any  one  element  of  it 
is  unduly  magnified  in  importance.  The  moment  that  tech- 
nique became  the  thing  most  appreciated,  when  the  artist 
was  judged  by  technique  alone,  there  arose  the  age  of  the 
virtuoso,  and  the  art  proper,  the  art  as  a  whole,  was  weakened 
just  to  the  extent  that  the  individual  stood  out.  It  may  be 
difficult  to  apprehend  the  full  force  of  this  distinction,  even 
though  our  present  musical  hfe  illustrates  it  frequently. 
Shakespearian  dramas  are  nowadays  usually  played  by  a 
cast  containing  perhaps  but  one  fine  actor;  all  centers  on 
that  individual,  and  the  rest  of  the  company  is  often  mediocre. 
Shakespeare  realized  that  danger  when  he  said,  "The  play's 
the  thing"  — ^not  the  actors.  When  we  plan  to  go  to  a  per- 
formance of  opera  our  first  question  is,  usually,  "Who  is 
going  to  sing?"  not  "What  is  the  opera?"  and  "By  whom  is 
it  written?"  —  "Who  is  going  to  sing?"  Not  "What  great 
art- work  are  we  going  to  hear?"  but  "Who  is  the  virtuoso?" 

Now  we  must  not  decry  the  virtuosi,  for  we  desire  and 
ought  to  hear  them;  but  we  wish  to  hear  their  interpretation 
of  the  art-work,  which  is  greater  than  the  individual  who  in- 
terprets. 

As  a  result  of  the  rise  of  virtuosity  in  Greece,  philosophy, 
the  lofty  thought,  degenerated,  and  instead  of  the  philoso- 
pher we  have  the  sophist,  who  exalts  the  individual.  History 
teaches  that,  as  soon  as  "technique"  in  one  of  the  arts  be- 
gins to  reign,  it  is  not  long  before  it  is  not  a  question  of  real 
art  any  more,  but  rather  of  who  can  do  the  most  amazing, 
wonderful  thing,  thus  making  technique  the  art. 


Music  among  the  Hebrews,  Greeks  and  Romans        23 


Music  among  the  Romans. 

The  Roman  Empire,  after  its  conquest  of  Greece,  did  little 
toward  the  development  of  music  as  an  art,  but  offered 
prizes  to  those  who  had  the  greatest  dexterity,  could  blow 
the  loudest  or  play  the  fastest,  and  thus  soon  lost  the  art- 
ideals  which  the  Greeks  had  formerly  held.  Although  Rome 
borrowed  her  art  from  other  nations,  nevertheless,  because 
she  offered  large  financial  rewards  and  great  honors,  musicians 
(especially  the  virtuosi)  flocked  thither  to  receive  them. 
We  read  that  upon  one  occasion,  in  the  time  of  JuHus 
Caesar,  there  were  thousands  of  singers  and  players  at 
one  feast.  In  the  Roman  schools,  however,  we  find  the  old 
Greek  curriculum  continued  in  the  teaching  of  what  was 
called,  and  is  stilled  called  in  college  courses,  the  "human- 
ities;'' and  among  these  humanities,  music  ranked  first. 
Under  the  Roman  emperors  some  developments  were  made 
in  the  theory  of  music  and  the  classification  of  rhythms  and 
meters. 

One  evidence  of  the  importance  which  the  Greeks  attached 
to  music  and  its  alUed  arts  is  the  story  of  the  Nine  Muses. 
The  poet  Callimachus  explains  their  functions  in  these 
words : 

Calliope  the  deeds  of  heroes  sings, 

Great  Clio  sweepeth  for  their  tones  the  strings; 

Euterpe  teaches  mimes  their  silent  show, 

Melpomene  presides  o'er  scenes  of  woe: 

Terpsichore  the  flute's  soft  power  displays, 

And  Erato  gives  hymns  the  gods  to  praise: 

Polymnia  still  inspires  melodious  strains, 

Urania,  wise,  the  starry  course  explains. 

And  gay  Thalia's  glass  points  out  where  folly  reigns. 

The  study  of  the  music  peculiar  to  nations  of  the  pre- 
Christian  era  reveals  their  efforts  in  the  domain  of  vocal 
music  with  and  \Wthout  instrumental  accompaniment,   the 


24  Familiar  Talks  on  the  History  of  Music 

lofty  ideals  which  moved  them  to  expression  in  music,  in 
song,  and  the  limited  means  at  their  disposal,  which  never- 
theless contained  the  germs  of  the  greater  art  which  was  to 
blossom  and  bear  fruit  so  abundantly  after  the  advent  of 
Christianity. 


CHAPTER    III. 
MUSIC  IN  THE  EARLY  CHRISTIAN  ERA. 

When  Rome  was  the  center  of  civilization,  men  sought 
pleasure,  power  and  riches  above  all  things.  During  this 
period  was  born  the  Christ,  whose  message  to  humanity  was 
diametrically  opposed  to  the  prevailing  spirit.  The  classical 
age,  lofty  as  was  its  mission  and  great  its  perfection,  in  many 
ways  ignored  the  claims  of  humanity.  In  Rome  the  rights 
of  the  individual  were  respected  even  less  than  in  Greece. 
Class-prejudice  was  universal.  Ideality  was  repressed,  and 
therefore  art  degenerated.  ]VIan  was  nothing;  his  social 
position  and  his  wealth  were  the  only  things  to  be  considered. 
No  wonder  that  such  messages  as  "Blessed  are  they  that 
mourn,  for  they  shall  be  comforted,"  ''Fear  not  them  that 
kill  the  body,  but  are  not  able  to  kill  the  soul,"  "Come  unto 
me,  all  ye  that  labor  and  are  heavy  laden,  and  I  will  give 
you  rest,"  fell  like  dew  upon  the  spirits  of  the  oppressed,  and 
like  fire  upon  the  heads  of  the  oppressors.  Their  import  in- 
fused hope  and  comfort  into  the  hearts  of  those  who  suf- 
fered under  tyranny,  and  awakened  dormant  yearnings  for 
love  and  truth.  In  the  new  religion  man  was  directed  to 
search  his  heart,  for  from  the  heart  only  could  arise  that 
which  was  true  and  noble.  The  classic  artist  imitated  and 
beautified  the  models  he  found  in  Nature,  but  the  new  art 
was  to  realize  the  Divine.  Plastic  art  could  not  delineate 
inner  revelations;  it  therefore  became  the  handmaid  of 
architecture,  and  gave  place  to  the  art  of  painting  with  its 
representations  of  the  Christ.  The  painter  began  to  strive 
to  express  the  emotions,  the  soul,  in  the  faces  of  his  subjects, 
and  beauty  of  form  was  to  become  a  secondary  consideration. 

2$ 


26  Familiar  Talks  on  the  History  of  Music 

The  longing  for  a  future  existence,  for  expression  of  the 
inner  life  of  man,  was  to  find  its  most  sublime  utterance  in 
music,  for  that  alone  could  express  the  craving  for  the  un- 
known. The  greatest  religious  musical  works  of  later  years 
are  the  outgrowth  of  this  period,  and  the  influence  of  Christian- 
ity is  in  large  part  responsible  for  the  emancipation  of  music 
from  the  domination  of  other  arts.  Part-writing  developed 
out  of  the  music  of  the  Church.  Music,  most  fugitive  of  arts, 
was  drawn  upon  to  depict  the  life  beyond  the  grave,  which 
had  been  considered  the  end  of  man.  The  motto  of  an- 
tiquity was,  "Think  ye  how  to  live;"  that  of  the  new  religion, 
"Think  ye  how  to  die;"  and  thence  arose  the  ''De  Pro- 
fundis,"  the  "Miserere"  and  the  "Requiem,"  followed  by 
the  "Gloria  in  Excelsis"  and  the  "Te  Deum  Laudamus." 
The  new  doctrine  taught  man's  equality,  and  woman's, 
before  God.  This  change  of  the  status  of  woman  from  a 
chattel  to  the  equal  of  man  is  responsible  for  the  romanticism 
of  later  years,  which  was  unknown  in  the  classical  age. 

In  the  beginning  the  worship  of  the  Christian  church  was 
modelled  either  after  the  Jewish  temple  service  or  after 
Greek  ideas  and  Greek  forms.  The  mythological  illustra- 
tions used  by  the  Greeks  were  used  over  again  by  the  Chris- 
tians, though  under  other  names,  as  bibHcal  illustrations. 
The  Greek  representations  of  "Hermes  and  the  goat"  thus  be- 
came those  of  "Christ  and  the  lamb;"  "Orpheus  surrounded 
by  wild  beasts"  was  transformed  into  "Daniel  in  the  lions' 
den;"  and  "Arion  and  the  dolphin"  became  "Jonah  and  the 
whale."  What  was  true  of  the  pictures  was  also  true  of  the 
forms  and  ceremonies  and  much  of  their  music. 

Philo,  a  great  Jewish  philosopher  and  scholar,  thus  de- 
scribes one  of  the  early  Christian  nocturnal  services:  "After 
supper  their  sacred  song  began.  When  all  were  arisen,  they 
selected  two  choirs,  one  of  men  and  one  of  women,  in  order 
to  celebrate  some  festival,  and  from  each  of  these  two  choirs 
they  selected  as  leader  a  person  of  majestic  form,  and  well 


Music  in  the  Early  Christian  Era  27 

skilled  in  music.  They  chanted  hymns  in  honor  of  God,  now 
singing  together  and  now  alternately  answering  each  other." 

They  probably  chanted  antiphonally  one  of  the  Psalms,  a 
Hebrew  practice  recommended  by  the  Apostles,  as  can  be 
seen  from  Paul's  letters  to  the  Ephesians.  St.  Augustine 
(354-430)  also  recommends  this  practice  when  he  says,  ''One 
cannot  sing  to  the  Lord,  unless  he  hath  God  in  his  heart, 
and  no  worthier  songs  could  be  found  than  the  inspired 
Psalms  of  David." 

It  is  certain  that  many  of  the  early  Christian  hymn- 
tunes  were  selected  from  the  folk-songs  of  the  Hebrews, 
Greeks  and  Romans,  thus  preserving  in  unbroken  sequence 
the  manifestations  of  the  mind  of  man  in  his  development. 

Improvisation,  which  was  common  among  the  Greeks  in  the 
banquet-song  (the  ''Skolion")  and  among  the  Hebrews,  was 
undoubtedly  also  in  use  among  the  early  Christians.  In  mo- 
ments of  high  religious  exaltation  they  could  not  help  speak- 
ing from  the  heart,  and  as  they  spoke  very  emotionally,  they 
naturally  began  to  chant.  The  Twenty-third  Psalm  and  the 
fifteenth  chapter  of  Exodus  will  give  an  idea  of  this  form  of 
improvisation. 

The  Seven  Churches  of  Asia  Minor  dififered  considerably  in 
their  services  and  especially  in  their  music.  While  St.  James 
the  lesser,  the  first  bishop  of  Jerusalem  (martyred  a.d.  62),  is 
supposed  to  have  written  the  first  Mass,  appropriate  hymns 
were  used  even  earlier  in  the  Greek  Church  and  are  still  con- 
tinued there.  Words  and  music  are  said  to  have  been  well 
adapted  to  one  another,  and  such  embellishments  as  trills, 
cadenzas,  etc.  (vocalization),  which  are  indigenous  to  all 
Oriental  music,  were  very  common  and  well  liked.  The  re- 
sult was,  that  since  a  crowd  or  congregation  could  not  do 
such  singing  in  unison,  singers  were  specially  selected  for  their 
ability  in  musical  improvisation.  After  the  manner  of  the 
Greek  orator  with  his  Citharode,  the  singer  was  assisted  by 
another  who  reiterated  a  given  pitch,  a  stationary  tone.     That 


28  Familiar  Talks  on  the  History  of  Music 

may  seem  amusing  to  us,  but,  crude  as  it  may  appear,  it  was 
the  beginning  of  a  great  art,  that  of  polyphony. 

The  Oriental  Greek  CathoHc  Church  has  scarcely  altered  its 
early  musical  customs,  their  manner  of  song  being  somewhat 
similar  to  that  of  the  Orthodox  Hebrew  Church  of  to-day. 

In  the  churches  of  Rome  much  care  was  exercised  in  the 
selection  of  singers.  At  a  very  early  date  it  was  ordained 
that  only  those  who  had  been  baptized  should  be  allowed  to 
sing  in  the  services,  and  this  privilege  was  therefore  highly 
prized.  Oriental  ornamental  singing  gradually  crept  in,  and 
there  arose  a  demand  for  skilled  singers.  No  definite  notation 
being  in  existence,  singers  were  also  needed  for  the  antiphonal 
chants  and  hymns;  and,  since  their  preparation  for  this  work 
required  time  and  labor,  it  was  found  necessary  to  pay  them 
for  their  services.  Even  then,  however,  the  church  could  not 
find  enough  singers.  As  a  result.  Pope  Sylvester,  in  320, 
started  a  singing-school  in  Rome  to  train  adult  singers  for  the 
services;  but,  as  they  were  ill-paid,  the  undertaking  was  not 
a  success.  Pope  Hilary  in  the  year  350  founded  a  sort  of 
orphan  asylum  for  boys,  who  were  cared  for,  educated,  and 
trained  in  the  music  of  the  Church  —  an  idea  carried  on 
through  many  succeeding  centuries,  even  to  the  days  of 
Haydn  and  Schubert. 

The  Syrian  Church  founded  by  St.  Paul  and  St.  Barnabas 
had  several  divisions,  but  the  center  of  Syrian  Christianity 
was  the  church  at  Antioch.  Here  the  first  heresies,  religious 
as  well  as  musical,  appeared.  Here  we  find  the  first  Gnostics, 
who  wanted  to  make  a  bible  of  their  own;  and  poets  who 
wrote  new  Psalms  in  imitation  of  those  of  David.  One  of 
these  poets,  Ephraim,  a  highly  gifted  man,  was  given  the  sur- 
name of  "the  Harp  of  the  Holy  Spirit,"  and  many  of  the 
Syrian  churches  even  to-day  have  an  annual  feast,  or  holy 
day,  in  honor  of  his  memory.  He  was  a  monk,  born  in  Meso- 
potamia, and  converted  at  the  age  of  eighteen.  His  writings 
on  the  Syriac  version  of  the  New  Testament  are  considered  so 


Music  in  the  Early  Christian  Era  29 

important,  and  are  so  often  consulted  by  theological  students, 
that  they  were  translated  into  German  within  the  last  century. 
His  hymns  are  very  poetic,  and  full  of  Oriental  imagery. 

As  there  was  no  definite  notation  in  those  days,  the  form  of 
church  singing  was  handed  down  from  priest  to  neophyte  or 
from  teacher  to  pupil,  and  that  in  vogue  in  the  Syrian  Church 
was  quite  different  from  that  practised  in  Rome.  Even  the 
form  of  the  Mass  was  different,  the  Syrian  Mass  having 
neither  Kyrie  nor  Gloria. 

The  services  of  the  Armenian  Church,  founded  in  the  third 
century,  were  so  like  those  of  the  Eastern  Greek  Church  that 
their  further  consideration  is  unnecessary. 

The  African  Church  is  historically  and  ethnologically  prob- 
ably the  most  interesting.  Its  liturgy  was  written  either  by 
St.  Basil  or  St.  Mark.  It  was  there  that  folk-songs  were 
used  chiefly  in  the  religious  services.  Since  these  folk-songs 
contain  countless  repetitions  and  were  much  embellished, 
the  services  were  sometimes  very  long.  They  had  also  the 
method  of  "vocalization"  which  has  been  mentioned,  and 
this  habit  of  singing  many  tones  on  one  syllable  or  word  often 
caused  the  vesper  services  to  last  four  hours  or  even  longer. 

The  peculiar  style,  called  "vocalization,"  this  making  of 
many  turns  and  runs  {coloratura  singing),  in  later  years 
assumed  high  importance  in  the  vocal  art.  Handel's  works 
present  many  examples  of  this  form  of  embellishment;  so 
do  the  early  sonatas  and  old  Italian  operas.  It  was  an 
early  manifestation  of  man's  love  for  beauty  of  musical 
outline  and  form,  and  beauty  of  voice  and  tone.  When 
Handel  wrote  his  oratorios  on  biblical  subjects  dealing  with 
ancient  Jewish  history,  he  was  historically  correct  in  em- 
ploying these  embellishments,  because  they  were  peculiar  to 
the  singing  of  that  people. 

Even  in  those  early  days,  however,  there  were  in  each  of 
these  churches  some  persons  who  objected  to  the  "mutilation 
of  the   text"   in  singing,   and  objections   finally  became  so 


30  Familar  Talks  on  the  History  of  Music 

numerous  that  the  great  council  of  the  Catholic  Church,  hav- 
ing representatives  from  all  the  different  churches,  and  meet- 
ing at  Laodicea,  took  notice  of  them. 

From  what  precedes  it  may  be  seen  that  music  in  the 
early  Christian  Church  was  in  an  unsettled  state,  and  that 
the  time  was  ripe  for  reform.  The  first  of  the  reformers  and 
great  leaders  of  the  church,  St.  Ambrose,  was  born  a.d.  338, 
in  what  Caesar  calls  Gaul,  in  the  city  of  Treves.  He  was 
thoroughly  educated  at  home  and  then  went  to  Milan  to 
study  law.  In  369  he  was  appointed  prefect  of  that  city,  and 
thus  held  a  semi-military,  semi-civil  position,  which  implied 
the  government  of  upper  Italy  as  well  as  that  of  Milan.  In 
374  he  was  chosen  Bishop  of  Milan,  where  he  ruled  with 
vigor  and  enforced  church  regulations  and  church  discipline. 
He  began  reform  in  church  music  by  brushing  aside  much  of 
the  cumbrous  theory  of  the  Greek  modes,  with  their  quarter- 
steps  and  chromatic  tones,  which  have  been  mentioned  in  a 
previous  chapter. 

The  Greek  tetrachords  were  sometimes  formed  thus: 

13. 


*-  «-*■ 


:dz:^i=lts= 


The  5  it  here  represents  a  tone  midway  between  B  and  C; 
the  £s,  a  tone  midway  between  E  and  F. 

These  difficult  modes  were  discarded  by  Ambrose,  who 
then  reestablished  the  early,  simple  Greek  modes,  using 
only  half-steps  and  whole  steps  between  successive  degrees. 
The  half-steps  between  E  and  F,  and  B  and  C,  were  usually 
unchangeable,  but  occasionally  B  was  changed  to  5-flat, 
because  the  early  musical  ear  found  no  melodic  pleasure  in 
a  succession  of  three  whole  steps,  the  tritone.  There  is  con- 
siderable dispute  among  historians  as  to  the  names  of  the 
Ambrosian  modes,  as  they  are  applied  differently  from  those 
of  the  Greeks. 


Music  in  the  Early  Christian  Era  31 

AMBROSIAN  MODES 
14.  Dorian  Mode  Phrygian  Mode 

^ -       -»■■ ^-  _--•--*-     ^ 


^— ->■— '^— r— r=4 


41; 


Mixolydian  Mode 


Comparison  with  Ex.  12  will  show  that  the  Greek  Lydian 
scale,  corresponding  to  our  C-major  scale,  was  omitted  by 
Ambrose,  as  it  was  deemed  the  modo  lascivo  (the  vulgar 
mode),  associated  with  earthly,  sensual  love.  The  similarity 
between  these  Ambrosian  scales  or  modes  and  those  of  the 
Greeks  may  be  seen  in  the  exact  repetition  of  the  forms  of 
the  two  tetrachords  which  make  up  the  scales,  with  the 
half-steps  either  in  the  middle,  at  the  beginning,  or  at  the 
end.  Ambrose  also  reestabhshed  the  Greek  custom  of  al- 
lowing the  natural  rhythm  of  the  text  to  furnish  the  rhythm 
for  the  hymn. 

In  the  ninth  chapter  of  his  "Confessions"  St.  Augustine 
tells  how  he  first  heard  church  music  in  the  Ambrosian  style, 
and  describes  the  deep  impression  it  made  upon  him. 

In  spite  of  the  firmness  with  which  the  Church  at  Milan, 
St.  Ambrose's  church,  maintained  the  musical  practices  in- 
stituted by  its  Bishop,  during  the  next  two  centuries  abuses 
crept  in  through  the  introduction  of  local  secular  melodies 
with  profane  associations.  Many  of  the  fathers  of  the 
Church  tried  to  reform  these  abuses,  but  apparently  with- 
out success. 

Perhaps  the  greatest  of  the  reformers  of  early  Christian 
times  was  Gregory,  after  whom  is  named  the  Gregorian 
Chant  of  the  Catholic  Church  of  to-day,  a  grand  revival  of 
which  has  been  in  progress  during  recent  years.  Gregory 
was  born  in  540,  became  Pope  in  590,  and  reigned  as  such  for 
fourteen  years.  What  that  man  is  said  to  have  accomplished 
in  that  time  is  almost  incredible.     That  he  did  many  things, 


32  Familiar  Talks  on  the  History  of  Music 

we  know,  but  he  is  undoubtedly  credited  with  others  simply 
because  nobody  knew  to  whom  else  to  ascribe  them.  He 
did  not  begin  his  reforms  until  599,  and  had  but  five  years  to 
put  them  into  practice,  but  their  results  are  still  visible. 
Tradition  has  it  that  he  was  the  first  to  apply  the  names  of 
the  first  seven  letters  of  the  alphabet  to  the  seven  tones, 
using  the  Greek  letters,  beginning  with  gamma  (G)  as  the 
lowest  tone.  His  system  was  founded  on  the  division  of  the 
octave  into  a  fifth  and  a  fourth,  and  he  considered  the  fifth 
the  most  important,  next  to  the  octave.  To  the  four  Am- 
brosian  scales  or  modes  he  added  four  others  by  beginning 
them  a  fourth  below  what  we  should  call  their  tonic  and 
ending  on  the  fifth  above  that  tonic,  say  from  a  up  to  d  and 
from  there  up  to  a,  the  tonic  being  d  (as  in  the  Dorian  mode) ; 
and  he  called  them  the  hypo-modes  (the  modes  below).  By 
this  arrangement  Gregory  not  only  extended  the  scope  of 
the  scales,  but  gave  them  a  wholly  different  character. 

It  is,  however,  safe  to  assume  that  several  other  Popes,  both 
before  and  after  Gregory,  had  a  hand  in  the  reformation  and 
establishment  of  the  Catholic  musical  services.  For  ex- 
ample, the  vocal  service  of  the  Canonical  Hours  is  known  to 
have  been  established,  in  practically  the  present  form,  as 
early  as  540;  and  Gregory  possibly  neither  composed  any- 
thing nor  invented  the  alphabetical  nomenclature  of  the  seven 
tones. 

In  the  following  illustration  of  these  new  so-called  "Plagal" 
(oblique)  scales,  placed  as  derived  from  the  Ambrosian,  or 
"Authentic"  (primary)  scales,  the  half-note  indicates  what 
we  have  just  called  the  tonic,  or  final  tone: 


15. 

GRKGORI. 
Dorian  (Authentic) 

^    .   .    -    -^_f 

\N    MOUKS 

Hypodorian  (Plagal) 

*    -^ 

r- 

r    ' 

-J W-  ^—^ f— ^- 

-i 

_ 

Phrygian  (Authentic)  Hypophrygian  (Plagal) 


Music  in  the  Early  Christian  Era  33 


Lydian  (Authentic)  Hypolydian  (Plagal) 


y(h)0   -f^    f-  r- 


:;^=t: 


-•(!?)*- 


--=p=^ 


:3=^ 


Mixolydian  (Authentic)  Hypomixolydian  (Plagal) 


iT^ L 


It: 


Melodies  in  the  plagal  modes  seem  to  have  an  upward  ten- 
dency, while  those  in  the  authentic  modes  seem  to  have  the 
character  of  rest,  repose,  because  they  always  return  to  their 
tonic.  The  former  have  therefore  been  Hkened  to  the  me- 
diaeval pictures  of  saints  with  the  "-upward  glance"  of  adora- 
tion, sometimes  called  the  "Catholic  expression,"  while  the 
latter  have  been  considered  to  express  faith,  hope  and  peace. 
As  a  further  illustration  of  the  formation  of  melodies  in  these 
different  modes,  it  may  be  of  interest  to  compare  the  first 
theme  of  a  Trio  by  Schubert  with  the  first  theme  from  the 
Eroica  Symphony  by  Beethoven. 

Schubert  Beethoven 


It  will  be  seen  that  both  themes  lie  within  an  octave,  but 
one  might  be  said  to  be  in  the  authentic  mode  and  the  other 
in  the  plagal  mode,  both  having  the  same  tonic,  or  final. 

The  chant  of  the  church  as  revised  by  Gregory  and  others 
also  differed  from  the  Ambrosian  chant  in  that  it  was  no 
longer  recited  in  a  rhythmic  manner,  governed  by  the  length 
of  the  syllables  of  the  words  in  speech,  but  consisted  of  con- 
tinuous melodies  whose  tones  varied  but  little  in  length.  In 
the  Ambrosian  chant  the  natural  inflection  of  the  speaking 
voice  in  exalted  utterance  formed  the  basis  of  the  intonation. 
Illustrations  may  make  this  clear.  When  we  utter  the  prayer. 
"Lord,  have  mercy  upon  us,"  there  is  a  natural  falling  of  the 
voice  upon  the  last  word  which  might  musically  be  expressed 
when  chanted  in  conformitv  with  this  natural  falling,  as  follows: 


34  Familiar  Talks  on  the  History  of  Music 

17. 

A  lUgro 


EH5EEE 


)         Lord,       have       mer    -     cy  up   -     on 

We  note  here  2.  jail  of  a  minor  third.     Again: 

8. 


18. 


As  we         put  our        trust  in         Thee. 

Here  we  note  a  jail  of  a.  minor  third,  and  a  rise  of  a  major 
second,  and  also  a  rhythmical  utterance  evidently  inherent 
in  the  text.  This  form  of  musical  expression  was  common 
among  some  semi-civilized  nations  of  antiquity,  and  was  the 
beginning  of  the  chant. 

Gregorian  Chant  was  called  cantus  planus  (plain-chant)  or 
cantus  choralis;  planus  because  of  the  even  movement  of  the 
melody,  and  choralis  because  it  was  to  be  sung  by  the  many  — 
the  congregation  or  the  choir  —  and  not  by  the  priest  or  solo- 
ist. This  form  of  chant  was  also  called  canonicus,  because  all 
liturgical  texts  were  now  provided  with  special  melodies  which 
were  to  be  used  by  the  church  singers  because  they  were 
canonical  (fixed  by  the  church  law) ;  and  thus  came  into  use 
the  term  cantus  jirmus  (fixed  chant) ,  a  name  which  has  not 
changed  through  all  the  passing  centuries. 

Some  very  interesting  things  are  told  about  the  final  adop- 
tion of  the  form  of  chant  which  should  be  used,  since  some 
priests  preferred  the  Ambrosian  manner  and  others  the  Gre- 
gorian. Among  others  the  story  is  told  of  a  meeting  of  the 
fathers  of  the  Church  at  Milan,  where  this  matter  was  dis- 
cussed. Failing  to  reach  an  agreement,  they  decided  to  place 
both  missals  upon  the  altar  and  to  lock  the  church  until  the 
following  day.  When  they  reassembled,  the  Gregorian  mis- 
sal was  found  torn  into  many  pieces,  which  were  scattered  all 
over  the  church,  while  the  Ambrosian  book  lay  intact  upon 


Music  in  the  Early  Christian  Era  35 

the  altar;  whereupon  it  was  decided  that  this  indicated  that 
the  Gregorian  form  should  be  scattered  all  over  the  earth, 
into  all  churches,  whereas  the  Ambrosian  form  should  be  used 
exclusively  in  Milan.  The  latter  was  therefore  chained  to 
the  altar  in  Milan  in  token  of  its  permanent,  exclusive  use 
there  (which  is  said  to  continue  until  this  day),  while  the 
Gregorian  missal,  containing  the  new  songs  of  the  ritual,  was 
chained  to  the  altar  at  Rome,  thereby  settUng  its  future  un- 
changeableness. 

Melodies  in  the  authentic  modes  were  held  to  possess  a  pe- 
culiar charm  that  induced  rehgious  fervor;  but  the  same  was 
claimed  for  those  in  the  plagal  modes.  In  both  is  to  be 
noted  an  apparent  aversion  for  the  use  of  what  we  call  the 
"  leading- tone  "  of  the  scale,  which  is  avoided  by  the  leap  of  a 
third,  or  even  of  a  fourth  or  fifth.  This  avoidance  of  the 
leading-tone,  especially  in  ascending  phrases,  seems  to  give 
the  Gregorian  melodies  an  undefinable,  mystic  character. 
The  following  opening  phrases  of  ritual  chants  will  further 
illustrate  this  statement,  especially  when  heard  in  a  vast 
church,  chanted  from  the  altar. 


Lau  -de      di    -   gnum     ca  -  nat    san-  ctuni.     Glo         -        ria    Pa  -  tri. 


Rex  .    .    .     San  -  cto       -      rum.             Gau     -      de     Ma   -  ri   -   a. 
20.  

Me  -  di  -  a      vi  -  ta  in      mor   -    te     .     .       su         -         -  mus, 


Quern  qu3e-ri  -  mus  .     .      ad  -  ju 


36  Familiar  Talks  on  the  History  of  Music 


m 


tr=£^=g=^ — -=tr 


^=±=:^==zzt. 


Te,      Do  -  mi  -  ne,     .     .    qui     pro     pec  -  ca  -  tis      no         -  stris 


ju  -  ste      i        -       ra  -  see         -        -         ris. 

The  liturgic  influence  has  been  a  continuous  source  of  inspi- 
ration, both  poetically  and  aesthetically,  and  every  reform  or 
modification  has  been  for  the  purpose  of  affording  the  congre- 
gation a  proper  musical  setting  of  the  text.  After  a  while 
the  melodies  that  were  used  in  the  earliest  churches,  the  folk- 
songs, again  crept  into  the  service,  and  with  them  we  shall 
deal  in  due  course. 

One  of  the  longest  steps  in  advance  made  about  this  time 
was  the  emancipation  of  music  from  a  slavish  adherence  to 
the  rhythm  of  the  text.  The  Mass,  as  then  arranged,  has 
remained  unchanged  to  the  present  day,  and  is  the  founda- 
tion upon  which  some  of  the  most  glorious  compositions  have 
been  built.  Bach,  Mozart,  Cherubini  and  Beethoven,  as  well 
as  the  masters  of  the  sixteenth  and  seventeenth  centuries, 
received  inspiration  from  the  Gregorian  chant. 

In  order  to  perpetuate  his  system,  Gregory  founded  a 
musical  academy  in  Rome  where  priests  as  well  as  choir- 
singers  were  taught  by  him.  These  priests,  who  went  out 
as  missionaries,  spread  the  fame  of  the  canius  romanus  over 
the  rest  of  the  world,  so  that  it  soon  became  known  even  in 
far  England.  The  general  acknowledgment  of  the  Pope  as 
the  head  of  the  united  Catholic  Church,  which  occurred 
during  the  reign  of  Gregory's  successor,  assisted  in  spreading 
the  new  form  of  church-singing. 

During  the  time  of  Gregory,  and  even  during  the  fifth 
century,  various  writers  expounded  different  theories,  or 
wrote,  upon  the  subject  of  music.  The  most  important  of 
these  early  treatises  were  those  of  Boethius,  born  at  Rome 


Music  in  the  Early  Christian  Era  37 

about  A.D.  475.  He  was  a  student  of  the  classics,  who  re- 
ceived political  preferment,  in  recognition  of  his  knowledge, 
and  was  therefore  hated  by  the  courtiers  of  Theodoric,  and 
cast  into  prison.  He  wrote  five  books  on  the  subject  of 
music,  one  of  which  deals  with  the  voice  as  the  source  of 
music,  another  with  the  relations  of  intervals,  and  one  that 
deals  wholly  with  musical  practices. 

Another  writer,  Cassiodorus  (485-580),  in  his  book  ''On 
the  Liberal  Arts  and  Disciplines,"  suggests  a  series  of  fourths 
and  fifths  for  two  voices,  a  suggestion  put  into  practice  later 
by  Hucbald.  Still  another  writer,  the  Spanish  Bishop 
Isidore  (650),  mentions  ^^  harmonic  music '^  as  "at  the  same 
time  a  modulation  of  the  voice  and  a  concordance  of  simul- 
taneous sounds,"  and  speaks  of  "concordant  and  discordant 
sounds." 

Bede,  the  historian,  "the  light  of  the  eighth  century"  and 
"the  glory  of  the  Anglo-Saxons,"  does  not  elucidate  the  state 
of  music  in  his  day,  and  deals  only  in  theories. 

Most  learned  writers  of  the  early  Christian  age  continued 
to  expatiate  upon  the  music  of  the  ancients,  to  speculate 
upon  their  systems,  and  apparently  made  no  effort  to  give 
future  generations  an  idea  of  their  contemporaneous  music. 


CHAPTER   IV. 

EARLY  DIDACTICS. 

The  Beginnings  of  Polyphonic  Music. 

From  the  days  of  Gregory  the  Great  (ending  with  the  sixth 
century)  until  the  year  looo,  musical  history  is  practically  a 
blank  so  far  as  definite  improvement  in  the  art  itself  is  con- 
cerned, but  those  four  centuries  were  very  busy  ones  for 
Christendom.  Everything  worth  while  in  educational  mat- 
ters was  done  for  and  by  the  church.  All  progress  in  music 
was  in  the  hands  of  monks,  who  taught  those  whom  they 
deemed  worthy.  Society  during  these  four  centuries  had 
not  only  to  be  reformed,  but  re-created,  for  the  invasions  of 
the  Huns  and  the  Vandals,  under  Alaric  the  Goth  and  Gen- 
seric,  had  destroyed  the  very  foundations  of  the  Roman 
social  fabric. 

One  of  the  most  potent  forces  that  disturbed  Europe 
during  these  centuries  was  the  advent  of  the  Arabs  or  Islam- 
ites, one  of  the  ancient  peoples,  a  study  of  whose  civilization 
and  character  has  been  purposely  delayed  until  this  time. 
The  Arabs,  geographically  isolated  by  natural  boundaries,  like 
the  peoples  of  Egypt  and  ancient  India,  had  a  civilization  all 
their  own,  and  special  characteristics  and  gifts.  Their  belief 
in  one  God,  although  sometimes  obscured  by  the  influence  of 
the  religious  worship  of  nations  believing  in  many  gods,  was 
revived  in  all  its  purity  under  the  leadership  of  Mohammed 
during  the  latter  half  of  the  seventh  century.  While  their 
music  has  in  it  something  of  the  mysterious  and  romantic,  it 
never  elevated  itself  to  the  level  of  an  art  like  that  of  the 
Hebrews,  but  was  confined  to  folk-songs,  religious  songs  and 
popular  instrumental  music. 

38 


Early  Didactics  39 


Peoples  who  enjoy  nature  are  usually  also  music-lovers,  and 
many  of  them  are  musically  endowed.  This  was  true  of  the 
Arabs  and  is  plainly  manifest  in  their  poetry,  which,  while  not 
showing  strong  rhythmic  traits,  is  lyrical  and  musical.  While 
their  plastic  art  is  limited  (partly  because  of  religious  re- 
strictions), their  decorations  are  fantastic  and  at  times 
fascinating.  They  show  great  love  for  music  and  poetry, 
which  are  more  susceptible  of  variety  than  sculpture.  The 
philosophers  of  Arabia  had  for  centuries  been  wise,  great  and 
learned  men.  Many  of  the  Greek  sages,  and  also  many 
personages  mentioned  in  the  Bible  (even  Paul),  went  to 
Egypt  or  to  Damascus  in  Asia  Minor  to  obtain  what  they 
called  "the  Mysteries,"  which  simply  meant  higher  learning. 
Universities  such  as  those  of  Damascus  and  Bagdad  were 
well-known  seats  of  learning  long  before  the  Christian  era. 
It  is,  therefore,  not  surprising  that  such  a  people  should  bring 
forth  a  man  like  Mohammed,  the  author  of  the  Koran  (the 
Mohammedan  Bible)  whose  teachings  embrace  social  as  well 
as  religious  reforms. 

At  the  close  of  the  seventh  century  all  northern  Africa  had 
been  subjugated  by  the  Mohammedans,  and  in  711  they 
crossed  into  Spain,  drove  out  the  ruling  Goths,  and  established 
the  kingdom  of  the  Caliphs,  or  what  we  call  the  reign  of  the 
Moors  in  Europe.  Oriental  culture  and  learning  came  with 
them,  and  at  Cordova,  the  capital  of  the  new  Moorish  em- 
pire, there  was  established  a  university  which  soon  took  rank 
with  the  older  ones.  Here  science  was  fostered,  and  learned 
men  were  protected,  relieved  from  taxation  and  given  govern- 
mental support.  As  a  consequence  many  Jewish  scholars, 
with  their  followers,  who  were  persecuted  in  most  countries, 
sought  and  found  a  home  in  Spain. 

To  get  a  clear  idea  of  what  Moorish  civilization  in  this 
early  eighth  century  meant,  we  need  but  recall  the  general 
condition  of  Europe  with  its  absence  of  roads  and  its  lack  of 
learned  men  except  in  the  cloisters  or  monasteries.     In  the 


40  Familiar  Talks  on  the  History  of  Music 

Moorish  cities,  on  the  contrary,  were  found  paved  streets, 
lighted  and  carpeted  houses,  and  great  libraries  containing 
as  many  as  600,000  manuscripts.  These  Arabs  were  well 
versed  in  the  science  of  chemistry;  they  had  discovered  al- 
cohol, nitric  and  sulphuric  acid,  and  the  principle  of  specific 
gravity;  they  had  invented  the  clock,  and  discovered  how  to 
regulate  it  with  a  pendulum;  they  had  a  good  idea  of  the 
size  of  the  earth;  they  invented  that  most  intellectual  of  all 
games,  chess;  they  introduced  algebra  and  trigonometry,  and 
knew  how  to  manufacture  cotton  textiles  for  dress;  they  knew 
how  to  forge  steel  in  a  marvelous  manner,  for  no  armorer  has 
ever  been  able  to  excel  the  Damascus  blade  in  its  combina- 
tion of  strength  and  pliability. 

The  Moors  helped  to  make  Europe  acquainted  with  an- 
cient Greek  philosophy,  and  also  had  a  powerful  influence  in 
the  domain  of  architecture,  as  is  shown  in  the  Cathedral  of 
Cordova  and  the  Alhambra  of  Granada,  which  were  erected 
in  the  early  eighth  century,  and  are  still  admired  for  their 
singular  beauty.  As  the  Koran  forbade  all  kinds  of  symbolic 
representations,  the  Arab  could  gratify  his  taste  for  beauty, 
for  art,  only  by  using  mathematical  forms  of  construction  for 
his  ornamentation,  which  in  architecture,  and  by  courtesy  also 
in  music,  are  even  to-day  called  "arabesques."  These  latter 
are  each  constructed  out  of  one  certain  figure,  and  so  won- 
derfully contrived  after  the  Arab  manner  of  artistic  structure 
that  they  become  art-works.  The  same  spirit  of  exuberant 
ornamentation  prevailed  in  their  music,  but  there  it  lacked  the 
firm  foundation  necessary  for  a  suitable  starting-point. 

They  had  a  great  love  for  the  beautiful,  for  poetry,  as  did 
all  the  Orientals,  their  rich  and  flexible  language  affording 
abundant  scope  for  a  flowery  style  of  expressing  the  ideas  sug- 
gested by  their  fertile  imaginations.  Like  the  Greeks,  they 
chanted  poems  at  their  banquets,  their  feasts  and  religious 
festivals.  At  their  annual  fairs  the  people  came  together 
from  far  and  near,  and  held  contests  in  elocution  and  in  poetry, 


Early  Didactics 


41 


similar  to  those  at  some  of  the  Greek  and  Roman  games. 
They  did  not  exhibit  mammoth  pumpkins,  large  ears  of 
corn,  or  big  apples,  but  instead  had  contests  of  mind;  and 
selections  from  the  very  best  literature,  thus  presented,  were 
embroidered  in  gold  upon  silken  banners  which  were  hung 
in  the  most  sacred  places,  such  as  the  temple  at  Mecca.  In 
the  time  of  Mohammed  seven  such  banners  hung  in  that  tem- 
ple, and  the  great  leader  highly  esteemed  the  honor  conferred 
upon  him,  when  one  of  the  chapters  of  the  Koran  was  deemed 
equal  in  eloquence  and  power  to  the  great  poems  to  which 
had  been  awarded  the  palm  of  excellence  at  the  contests. 

Their  theoretical  music-system,  with  its  seventeen  tones 
within  the  octave  (progressing  by  one-third  steps) ,  was  as  com- 
plicated as  that  of  the  Greeks  and  Hindoos,  though  probably 
much  simpler  in  actual  practice,  but  their  vocal  melodies  are 
decidedly  different,  being  full  of  the  ornamentation  that  we 
call  Oriental,  of  which  the  following  "Song  of  a  Muezzin  to 
the  Rising  Sun"  is  a  fine  example.  Ferdinand  David  recorded 
this  melody  as  exactly  as  our  notation  will  admit,  and  also 
supplied  a  harmonic  basis  which  here  appears  slightly  con- 
tracted. 


SONG    OF    A    MUEZZIN    TO    THE    RISING    SUN. 

/ 


42 


Familiar  Talks  on  the  History  of  Music 


dim. 


-m-^nJif 


.^g^Egggagg^^gt^^- 


^=SS^ 


ad  lib. 


i=tz 


=tt=t^ 


t--t 


Jfe: 


-JT=^ 


The  similarity  in  character  of  this  melody  to  that  of  the 
more  ancient  ones  used  in  the  synagogue  is  at  once  evident, 
even  though  it  is  more  jubilant. 

The  Arab  boat-songs  and  funeral  chants  are  given  a  nasal 
intonation,  which  is  deemed  preferable  to  our  manner  of  sing- 
ing. The  most  prominent  among  their  musical  instruments 
is  the  Rebab  or  Rabab,  a  modification  of  the  Serinda  of  the 
Hindoos.  This  instrument  is  played  with  a  bow,  is  shaped 
somewhat  like  our  violin,  sometimes  larger  and  sometimes 
smaller,  but  played  like  the  violoncello;  the  "poet's  rebab" 
has  but  one  string,  whose  varying  tone  furnishes  an  emo- 
tional basis  for  recitation,  while  the  "singer's  rebab"  has  sev- 
eral strings  used  in  accompanying  the  voice.  It  is  generally 
considered  the  precursor  of  all  our  modern  stringed  instru- 
ments played  with  a  bow.  They  also  had  a  sort  of  mandolin 
with  seven  or  more  strings  called  Al'ud  (from  which  are  de- 
rived the  Spanish  word  Laud,  the  Italian  Liuto  and  the  Eng- 
lish Lute),  and  the  psaltery  of  the  Hebrews,  but  with  metal 


Early  Didactics  43 


strings  which  were  struck  with  little  hammers  —  one  of  the 
ancestors  of  our  piano. 

After  their  conquest  of  Spain  the  Moors  made  numerous 
attempts  to  cross  the  Pyrenees  into  France,  hoping  to  estab- 
lish their  faith  throughout  Europe,  but  these  were  thwarted 
by  the  armies  of  Charlemagne  (Roland)  and  Charles  Martel. 
The  character  of  their  poetry,  many  of  their  customs  and 
some  of  their  musical  instruments,  nevertheless,  came  into 
European  use  in  the  twelfth  century  upon  the  return  of  the 
Crusaders  from  the  Holy  Land. 

After  deep  and  extensive  investigation  of  all  available 
material,  music-historians  agree  that  all  ancient  music  was 
homophonic  or  monophonic.  Since,  however,  the  voices  of 
men  differ  in  compass  from  those  of  women  and  youths,  their 
unison  singing  must  have  been  in  octaves.  The  Gregorian 
chant  in  its  very  name  (cantus  choralis)  implies  a  similar 
practice. 

To  us  of  the  present  day,  with  our  inherited  harmonic  sense, 
it  seems  perfectly  natural  to  hear  different  sounds  simul- 
taneously. There  are  nowadays  many  people  who  upon 
hearing  a  melody  can  improvise  an  "alto"  thereto.  They 
practically  illustrate  our  inherited  sense  of  harmony.  It  is 
only  in  comparatively  modern  times  that  the  art  of  sounding 
different  tones  together  was  realized  and  systematized.  From 
the  earliest  attempts  at  using  two  distinct  voices  arose  the 
form  of  musical  practice  called  polyphony,  in  which  every 
voice  finally  became  equally  important. 

In  a  comparison  of  the  monophonic  style,  mofwdy,  with  the 
pol>'phonic  style,  polyphony,  the  former  may  be  likened  unto 
a  single  beautiful  line  full  of  more  or  less  graceful  curves, 
and  the  latter  to  a  number  of  such  lines  which  together  form 
a  beautiful,  harmonious  design  in  which  proportion  and  form 
are  clearly  evident.  The  musical  ear  naturally  seeks  for 
agreeable  combinations  of  sound,  or  what  are  called  conso- 
nances. 


44  Familiar  Talks  on  the  History  of  Music 

Quotations  from  some  writers  of  the  early  Christian  era 
with  regard  to  the  simultaneous  utterance  of  different  sounds 
have  been  given  in  a  previous  chapter,  but  a  chronicle  of  the 
time  of  Charlemagne,  written  about  a.d.  800,  definitely  states 
that  the  French  were  taught  by  the  Roman  singers  how  to 
accompany  a  melody  with  a  subordinate  one,  and  that  this 
was  called  the  art  of  organizing,  the  Latin  name  for  this  prac- 
tice being  organum. 

Another  historian  by  the  name  of  Hucbald,  about  the  year 
900,  gives  a  similar  account,  and  some  of  his  personal  efiforts 
in  this  direction  have  been  discovered.  He  gives  examples 
of  two  kinds  of  organum,  sacred  and  profane  {i.e.,  secular). 
In  the  sacred  organum  the  two,  three  or  four  voices  moved  in 
parallel  fourths,  fifths  and  octaves;  Hucbald  himself  speaks 
of  the  effect  thus  produced  as  "suavem  concertum." 

22. 

Sacred  Organum  HuCBALD 


-•S*-        -SI-        ■■SI-        -•&'-        -S>-         ^^         S>-        -f^         =-^         -s>- 

Do  -  mi  -  mis     in        o   -    pe  -    ri  -  bus    su  -    is. 


The  secular  organum  (also  called  diaphony)  was  similar  to 
the  practice  in  vogue  in  some  of  the  early  Christian  churches 
when  one  singer  sang  a  stationary  tone,  while  another  sang 
an  improvised  melody  above  it,  thus  forming  a  series  of  sec- 
onds, thirds  and  fourths. 

23.         Secular  Organum  HuCBALD 

■IS-  ~ 


>^  -r^-  -^^-         -Cs^         -^^         -Cs^  -— '-  ^r, 


Early  Didactics  45 


The  transition  from  theoretical  rules  to  agreeable  tone- 
effects  was  very  slow,  and  it  seems  almost  as  if  the  monks 
and  church  musicians  enjoyed  Hucbald's  sacred  organum,  al- 
though they  may  have  considered  it  a  worthy  penance  for  the 
ear,  similar  to  bodily  flagellation. 

A  most  prominent  character  in  early  musical  history,  who 
lived  around  the  year  1000,  was  a  man  by  the  name  of  Guido, 
who  was  born  in  Arezzo,  a  little  town  in  Tuscany,  As  in 
those  days  there  were  no  surnames,  and  people  were  desig- 
nated according  to  the  town  from  which  they  hailed,  he  is 
called  Guido  d'Arezzo.  He  was  a  church  singing- teacher. 
For  notation  in  his  work  he  invented  a  staff  of  four  lines  (till 
then  only  two  Hnes,  for  F-clef  and  C-clef,  had  been  used), 
which  became  the  accepted  ecclesiastical  stafT,  and  placed 
the  characters  called  neumes  (which  now  began  to  look  a 
Httle  like  our  notes)  upon  and  between  the  lines;  in  his 
treatises  he  also  wrote  on  his  new  staff  the  pitch-names  C, 
D,  E,  etc.,  in  place  of  neumes  or  notes.  He  was  therefore  in 
a  dual  sense  the  father  of  our  modern  musical  notation.  His 
method  of  teaching  sight-reading  was  famed  for  its  supposed 
simphcity.  He  drilled  his  pupils  in  the  singing  of  a  hymn 
which  had  a  notable  effect  upon  our  own  solfeggio  studies. 
Like  the  members  of  every  other  business  or  profession  in 
the  Middle  Ages,  singers  had  their  special  patron  saint,  St. 
John.  Every  singer,  therefore,  after  his  regular  prayers, 
said  an  additional  one  to  St.  John,  begging  the  saint  to  pro- 
tect him  against  hoarseness;  Guido,  wise  man  that  he  was, 
set  this  prayer  to  music,  knowing  that  students  of  singing 
would  learn  and  practise  it,  especially  as  it  would  accom- 
plish a  double  puqwse.  As  may  be  seen  from  the  following 
illustration  the  tune  was  a  very  simple  one.  Each  line  of  the 
poem  begins  with  a  different  pitch,  C  beginning  the  lirst 
line,  D  the  next,  E  the  next,  then  F,  G  and  .1. 


46  Familiar  Talks  on  the  History  of  Music 

HYMN    TO    ST.    JOHN. 

GuiDO  d'Arezzo 

:4: 


[/i   que-ant  la   -    xis     i?^-so-na-re     fi  -  bris   Mi     •      ra    ge-sto 


->- '^- 


r=C- 


Fa  -  mu   -  li        tu       -  o  -  rum,    Sol  -  ve     pol  -  lu  -    ti 


La    -    bi    -    i  re   -    a         -       turn,    San     -   cte        lo   -    an   -  nes. 

The  first  syllable  of  each  line  gave  the  series  ut^  re,  mi,  fa, 
sol,  la.  {Ut  was  changed  in  later  years  to  do,  forming  the 
familiar  do,  re,  mi,  fa,  sol,  la.)  The  last  Hne  of  the  hymn, 
consisting  of  the  words  Sancte  loannes,  furnished  still  later 
the  letters  ^  i  for  si.  These  six  syllables  were  thus  sung  to 
the  tones  of  the  scale  of  C,  omitting  B.  There  was  a  dis- 
tinct advantage  in  thus  memorizing  the  scale,  as  it  laid  an 
excellent  foundation  for  the  study  of  intervals.  Pope  John 
the  Sixth,  about  the  year  1026,  sent  for  Guido  to  come  to 
him  and  explain  this  new  method.  Guido  must  have  been  a 
very  thorough  teacher,  for  he  was  apparently  able  to  adapt 
his  work  to  all  kinds  of  students.  For  those  who  could  not 
learn  otherwise  he  made  use  of  his  hand  for  the  exposition  of 
his  system,  and  he  began  with  the  Greek  gamtna  (G)  as  ut  at 
the  tip  of  the  thumb,  and  from  this  ut  down  the  joints  of  the 
thumb,  and  then  of  the  other  fingers  until  he  had  used  all 
of  the  joints  and  had  to  indicate  the  last  tone  above  the  tip 
of  the  middle  finger.  He  did  another  wonderful  thing,  won- 
derful at  least  for  those  days,  and  that  was  the  exposition  of 
the  relationship  of  keys  and  scales  to  one  another.  He  vir- 
tually used  the  key  of  C,  with  its  dominant  key  of  G;  he  hes- 
itated to  use  the  subdominant  key  of  F  (including  jB-flat)  in 
teaching;   and  he  omitted  the  sharp,  possibly  because  he  was 


Early  Didactics  47 


just  a  little  afraid  of  its  use.  There  were  but  six  tones  in 
his  scale,  C  D  E  F  G  A,  so  he  called  it  a  hexachord,  to  distin- 
guish it  from  the  Greek  tetrachord;  he  recognized,  further, 
the  scales  G  A  B  C  D  E  2inA  F  G  A  B\>  C  D,  q.\\  having  the 
same  form  or  succession  of  whole  steps  and  half-steps.  The 
augmented  fourth,  as  we  call  it  {F  to  B),  was  early  named 
the  accentus  diabolus  (the  sound  of  the  Devil),  and  was  care- 
fully avoided  by  church  composers. 

He  called  the  initial  tone  of  each  scale  w/,  because  in  doing 
so  the  mi-fa  always  represented  a  half-step;  and  he  named 
this  process  of  transition  ''mutation." 

25. 

ut    re  mi    fa    sol  la        ut    re  mi  fa    sol   la         ut    re    mi  fa    sol    la 

We  see  from  this  that  he  is  the  father  of  what  we  now  call 
the  "  movable-^/ 0  "  system  (the  tonic  of  the  scale  always  being 
do)^  in  contradistinction  to  the  ^^jixed-do"  system  in  which 
the  place  of  C,  regardless  of  sharps  or  fiats,  is  always  called 
do,  a  method  used  in  most  Latin  countries. 

There  are  those  who  claim  that  Guido  was  not  the  in- 
ventor of  all  these  devices  in  teaching,  but  all  agree  that  he 
was  a  great  teacher.  That  he  deserved  the  title  of  master  is 
e\ddent  from  his  work  "De  disciplina  artis  musicas, "  wherein 
he  proves  himself  not  only  a  sound  theorist  but  a  practical 
teacher.  He  himself  said,  '*I  care  only  for  that  which  is 
good  for  the  Church,  and  tends  to  the  advancement  of  our 
little  ones."  In  another  place  he  says,  "The  musician  must 
so  arrange  his  song  that  it  reflects  the  words;  if  the  melody 
be  for  youth,  it  must  be  very  cheerful;  if  it  be  for  old  age,  it 
must  be  serious;  while  funeral  music  should  be  depressed, 
and  festival  music  joyous." 

The  musical  theories  taught  and  practised  by  this  brilliant 
man  must  have  been  startUng  to  the  staid  church  fathers, 


48  Familiar  Talks  on  the  History  of  Music 

as  a  departure  from  revered  tradition,  and  it  is  not  sur- 
prising that,  in  spite  of  almost  universal  praise  of  his  work, 
through  intrigue  he  was  compelled  to  resign  his  office  at  the 
monastery  of  Pomposa,  near  Ravenna,  and  was  even  cast 
into  prison,  from  which,  however,  he  was  released  by  Pope 
John  IX  (1024-35),  one  of  his  staunch  admirers.  His  country- 
men of  Tuscany  have  but  lately  recognized  his  greatness  by 
the  erection  of  statues  at  his  birthplace  and  at  Florence. 

While  these  didactic  reforms  were  taking  place  in  Italy, 
efforts  at  part-singing  were  continually  being  made  in  the 
Netherlands  and  along  the  Rhine,  as  well  as  in  France  and 
England. 

In  time  a  fixed  church  melody,  cantus  firmiis,  was  sub- 
stituted for  the  stationary  tone  of  the  secular  organum,  and 
another  melody,  called  discantus,  improvised  above  it,  note 
against  note.  The  association  of  two  such  distinct  melodies 
forms  the  real  beginning  of  two-part  counterpoint,  and  the 
singer  who  knew  this  art  of  improvisation  was  called  a  de- 
chanteur. 

About  the  year  iioo  we  find  written  rules  published  for 
the  guidance  of  those  who  wanted  to  study  this  art  of  the 
discant;  and  of  course,  when  rules  are  formulated  about  any 
art,  it  is  evident  that  the  art  has  already  progressed  con- 
siderably in  practice. 

As  long  as  the  voices  went  along  in  parallel  or  contrary 
motion,  all  singing  the  same  words  together  (or  at  almost 
the  same  moment),  it  -w'as  not  difficult  for  the  singers  to 
keep  together;  but  soon  a  liberal  use  of  all  sorts  of  embellish- 
ments was  made  in  the  discantus.  These  embelHshments 
were  called  by  the  French  flcurettes  (little  flowers),  and  by 
the  Italians  (when  this  art  took  root  among  them)  fioriture. 
It  soon  became  necessary  to  have  signs  or  characters  ex- 
pressing duration  of  tone,  or  what  we  call  notes.  Such  a 
musical  notation  was  invented,  codified  and  perfected  grad- 
ually by  various  theorists  and  composers,  prominent  among 


Early  Didactics  49 


whom  were  Johannes  de  Garlandia  (the  elder),  who  wrote 
the  treatise  "De  musica  mensurabili "  some  time  in  the  second 
half  of  the  twelfth  century;  he  was  followed  by  Franco  (the 
elder)  of  Paris,  and  Franco  (the  younger)  of  Cologne,  the 
former  the  author  of  the  "  Ars  cantus  mensurabilis,"  the  latter 
of  a  "Compendium  discantus."  From  this  last  work  it  is  evi- 
dent that  discant  singing  had  considerable  vogue  along  the 
Rhine,  and  that  the  practice  of  two  voices  singing  tones  of 
dififerent  duration  was  already  well  known  early  in  the  thir- 
teenth century. 

The  next  reformer  was  an  Italian  named  Marchetto,  of 
the  city  of  Padua,  who  wrote  a  treatise  on  music,  and  who 
had  begun  to  use  what  we  nowadays  call  "modulation." 
He  was  among  the  first  to  make  use  of  the  sharp,  the  flat 
having  been  in  practical  use  for  a  long  time.  After  him  came 
Franco  of  Paris,  where  the  first  really  important  work  was 
done  in  polyphonic  music.  The  Parisian  Franco  also  labored 
for  the  establishment  of  a  mensural  notation  which  he  found 
necessary  for  the  proper  reading  of  his  part-songs,  and  he  is 
thought  by  many  to  have  been  its  originator. 

The  younger  Franco  strongly  advocated  the  use  of  men- 
sural song,  and  his  system  was  widely  adopted.  He  also  in- 
vented a  manner  of  indicating  the  contents  of  the  rhythmical 
measure  by  introducing  the  tempiis  perjectum  (the  three- 
beat  measure),  called  perjectum  because  the  number  3  repre- 
sented the  Holy  Trinity.  He  was  also  the  first  to  classify 
the  real  dissonances  in  harmony,  as  being  the  seconds  and 
sevenths,  and  of  course  included  the  augmented  fourth, 
which  had  been  abhorred  by  the  ancients  and  avoided  by 
the  early  Christian  musicians. 

The  laws  of  part-writing  promulgated  in  his  works  are 
virtually  those  that  govern  modern  writers.  He  rejected 
the  parallel  fourths  and  fifths  of  Hucbald,  as  Guido  d'Arezzo 
had  done,  and  advocated  the  movement  of  voices  in  opposite 
directions,  what  we  term  "contrary  motion." 


50  Familiar  Talks  on  the  History  of  Music 

We  have  seen  that  during  the  first  eleven  centuries  of  the 
Christian  era,  the  development  of  music  was  in  the  hands  of 
various  men  of  different  nations,  whose  work  was  very  much 
the  same,  with  here  and  there  some  individual  showing  an 
unusual  invention  that  was  speedily  adopted  by  others. 
Discanting,  which  arose  in  France,  spread  rapidly  among 
other  nations,  as  had  been  the  case  with  diaphony  and  the 
sacred  organum. 

Beginning  with  the  twelfth  century,  however,  there  seems 
to  be  a  rotation  of  nations  whose  composers  really  formed 
schools  of  music,  as  we  call  them,  in  which  their  pupils  were 
educated,  each  student  building  upon  the  work  of  his  master, 
and  carrying  the  new  art-practices  into  other  lands. 

DISCANT   OF    THE   EARLY   TWELFTH   CENTURY. 
26. 


Ver-bum      bo-num  et    su  -  a  -  ve    Per-so  -  ne-mus     il  -  lud    A 


I'er   quod    Chri-ste   fit    con- cla  -   ve  Vir-go     Ma-ter        ft  -  li  -  a. 


^-- 


The  apex  of  such  high  endeavor  shifted  from  France  in  the 
1 2th  and  13th  centuries  to  Belgium  in  the  13th  and  14th,  and 
from  there  to  the  Netherlands,  Germany  and  later  to  Italy 
in  the  15th  and  i6th  centuries. 

The  French  school  of  polyphony  is  the  real  beginning  of 
counierpoint  as  an  art,  as  well  as  a  science.  Until  the  middle 
of  the  nineteenth  century,  it  was  generally  agreed  among 
historians  that  the  Belgians  were  responsible  for  its  early 
development,  but  the  researches  of   the  celebrated  Belgian 


Early  Didactics  51 


scholar  Coussemaker  in  the  MSS.  discovered  in  the  medical 
library  at  Montpellier,  France,  have  proved  that  a  number 
of  French  contrapuntal  composers  existed  as  early  as  the 
eleventh  century,  and  that  they  resided  mostly  in  Paris. 

Foremost  among  these,  towards  the  close  of  the  twelfth 
century,  must  be  mentioned  the  Parisians  Leonin  and  Pero- 
tin,  organists  and  dechanleurs  at  the  church  of  the  Virgin 
Mary,  the  predecessor  of  Notre  Dame.  In  their  works  are 
to  be  found  examples  of  important  devices  of  counterpoint 
which  they  had  undoubtedly  tested  in  practice.  Some  of 
their  pupils,  such  as  Odygnton  (died  1230),  evidently  came 
from  England,  and  these  were  in  some  measure  responsible 
for  the  splendid  polyphonic  compositions  of  the  twelfth, 
thirteenth  and  fourteenth  centuries  in  that  country,  of 
which  we  have  such  a  fine  example  in  "Sumer  is  icumen  in" 
(to  be  mentioned  again  later).  At  first  their  counterpoint 
was  for  two  voices,  the  cantus  firmus  of  the  Church  with  an 
improvisation  above  it.  As  soon  as  this  was  a  settled  practice, 
it  was  but  a  step  to  three-  and  four-part  counterpoint,  which 
were  first  used  in  the  Motet  and  in  secular  compositions. 
There  was  another  custom  indigenous  to  North  France  and 
England  in  the  twelfth  century,  namely,  the  singing  in  three 
parts  in  what  we  call  chords  of  the  sixth,  using  thirds  and 
fourths  between  the  voices,  the  lowest  voice  producing  what 
was  described  as  a  "false  bass,"  a  fauxhourdon,  although 
some  historians  claim  that  the  lowest  part  was  hummed, 
because  "bourdonner"  means  ''to  hum." 

FAUXBOURDON    OF   THE    13TH   CENTURY. 
27. 


mmm^:. 


m^sTi 


gg^fgg^gglSE^E 


52  Familiar  Talks  on  the  History  of  Music 

This  new  and  improved  part-leading  was  first  employed  in 
secular  music;  but  though  church  musicians  were  bound  by 
academic  rules,  it  was  not  long  before  it  also  came  into  use 
in  the  church  in  singing  the  psalms  and  responses. 

Three  forms  of  composition  were  used  by  the  early  French 
writers:   the  Motet ^  the  Rondeau  and  the  Conduit. 

The  first  of  these,  the  Motet,  was  (i)  a  sacred  composition 
used  after  certain  portions  of  the  Mass,  repeating  its  text, 
but  in  which  one  voice  had  a  different  text  whose  sentiment 
was,  however,  related;  or  (2)  a  secular  work  in  similar  form 
—  an  effort  at  musical  independence  of  the  voices,  an  out- 
growth of  which  is  to  be  found  in  operatic  ensembles.  This 
style  of  writing  gradually  disappeared  from  France  to  re- 
appear in  the  Netherlands  some  centuries  later,  and  to  reach 
its  supreme  development  at  the  hands  of  Orlando  di  Lasso 
in  Munich,  and  Palestrina  in  Rome.  In  Germany,  in  a 
changed  form,  it  was  brought  to  the  highest  expression  by 
Bach,  Handel  and  their  successors. 

The  second  form  of  composition,  the  Rondeau,  was  secular, 
and  all  the  voices  sang  the  same  text.  A  fine  example  of 
this  is  found  in  a  composition  by  Adam  de  la  Halle,  used  as 
an  illustration  in  many  histories  of  music. 

The  third  form,  called  the  Conduit  (Latin  conductus),  was 
a  style  of  vocal  music  in  which  all  the  parts  progressed  simul- 
taneously, so  that  the  mensural  notation  was  not  required 
in  writing  it. 

The  early  French  masters  seem  to  have  been  fond  of 
pleasing  harmonies,  rather  than  given  to  melodic  invention. 
Still,  the  intellectual  devices  of  imitation,  canon,  and  even 
double  counterpoint,  were  evidently  sedulously  cultivated  by 
them,  even  if  they  sometimes  perpetrated  voice-progressions 
which  are  at  times  as  harsh  to  our  ears  as  the  organum  and 
diaphony  of  their  predecessors.  The  following  example  from 
one  of  Perotin's  works  illustrates  this: 


Ejirly  Didactics 


53 


28. 


PEROTliS 


The  phrases  marked  la  and  2a  are  imitated  at  ih  and  ih, 
and  the  voices  still  frequently  form  fourths,  fifths  and  unisons, 
showing  the  influence  of  the  organum. 

A  succeeding  French  master  of  note  was  Jean  de  Garlande 
(the  younger),  also  an  excellent  teacher  and  theorist,  whose 
treatise  on  the  rules  of  counterpoint  (the  first  in  which  that 
term  appears)  is  especially  interesting  because  he  supplied  it 
with  illustrations  of  his  own,  such  as  the  following  one: 


29. 


Jean  de  Garlande 


Among  the  numerous  disciples  of  the  Paris  school,  many 
of  whom  settled  in  England  and  the  Netherlands,  must  be 
mentioned  Jean  de  Meurs  [de  Muris]  of  Normandy  (1200- 
1270).  He  it  is  who  gives  a  clear  definition  of  the  discant 
when  he  says,  "In  discant  there  are  only  two  voices,  one 
which  we  call  the  tenor,  and  the  other,  who  sings  above  the 
tenor,  which  is  called  discant ^  He  is  the  first  to  define  the 
three  kinds  of  tempi  in  use  in  his  day,  as  lively,  moderate  and 
slow.  He  also  informs  us  that  the  use  of  several  notes  against 
one  is  quite  customary  among  contemporaneous  singers. 
He  understood  the  art  of  that  period  very  thoroughly,  and 
was  severe  in  his  criticism  of  those  who  practised  it  without 
having  a  knowledge  of  its  laws. 


54  Familiar  Talks  on  the  History  of  Music 

The  last  of  this  early  French  school  was  Jean  de  Machaut 
(1300-13  7  2),  a  poet  as  well  as  a  musician,  who  wrote  a  Mass 
for  the  coronation  of  Charles  V,  his  patron.  His  work  al- 
ready shows  a  blending  of  the  French  or  Parisian  style  of 
counterpoint  with  the  Florentine  "Ars  nova"  (new  art)  of  the 
fourteenth  century.  The  "old  art"  (Ars  antiqua)  thereafter 
declined  in  France,  but  was  revived  by  the  Belgians  and 
Netherlanders, 


CHAPTER  V. 

FOLK-MUSIC  DURING  THE  MIDDLE  AGES. 

Every  nation  and  every  tribe,  even  in  ancient  times,  has 
had  its  folk-songs,  an  outgrowth  of  the  very  life  of  the  people, 
more  or  less  artistic  according  to  their  emotional  develop- 
ment, in  which  the  soul  sought  expression  of  that  for  which 
speech  was  inadequate.  The  authors  of  such  songs  are  in 
most  cases  unknown;  many  were  undoubtedly  of  the  common 
people,  although  possessed  of  artistic  instincts,  and  their 
song  unconsciously  reflects  most  truthfully  the  soul's  move- 
ments. 

The  folk-song  and  the  Gregorian  chant,  or  Plain-song, 
form  the  foundations  of  our  musical  art,  the  one  being  the 
naive  melodious  expression  of  the  sentiment  of  poetry  which 
depicts  human  emotions,  the  other  typifying  the  solemn 
churchly  and  mystic  emotions,  and  voicing  the  aspiration 
for  a  future  life.  We  will  now  investigate  the  folk-music  of 
the  various  nations  of  Europe  previous  to  and  during  the 
Middle  Ages. 

Among  the  Celts  music  had  a  distinct  place  in  the  national 
Hfe  outside  of  religion.  Their  bards,  or  minstrels,  were 
sought  after  and  honored  because  of  their  ready  and  active 
intervention  in  the  causes  of  religion  and  patriotism,  and  in 
social  life.  They  sang  legends  and  stories  of  martial  ad- 
venture, accompanying  themselves  upon  primitive  harps, 
and  were  the  popular  singers  of  this  very  musical  people. 
Even  their  royal  rulers  seem  to  have  ventured  into  the 
domain  of  music,  for  there  is  a  tradition  that  Scifylt,  who 
reigned  as  king  in  Brittany  about  the  middle  of  the  second 
century,  was  a  good  musician  and  player  upon  the  harp. 
They  also  used  another  stringed  instrument  played  with  a 

55 


56 


Familiar  Talks  on  the  History  of  Music 


bow,  known  by  the  apparently  unpronounceable  name  of 
crwlh  (the  crowd,  afterwards  called  chrotta),  of  which  we 
shall  learn  more  at  another  time.  Three  different  classes  of 
bards  were  recognized  among  the  people:  (i)  the  priestly 
bards,  who  were  also  the  historians;  (2)  the  domestic  bards, 
who  made  music  for  the  glory  of  their  employers,  somewhat 
after  the  manner  of  the  later  musical  directors  at  the  smaller 
courts  of  Europe;  and  (3)  the  heraldic,  patriotic  bards,  who 
sang  in  praise  of  individual  and  national  deeds  of  heroism. 
The  following  song,  which  is  ascribed  to  the  Druids,  is  charac- 
teristic of  their  rugged  energy. 


30.     Druid  Melody 

j^4 — ^ — >» — »» — >^"t>- 


-j^ — w — y- 


;«*= 


3i:=S;z^=j5=S=si 


=«*= 


^*=F 


-iSEE5^ 


-*=^* 


That  these  bards  were  an  important  institution  is  evident 
from  the  comprehensive  examination  required  for  admission 
into  their  midst.  At  their  annual  Eisteddfod,  those  belong- 
ing to  the  lower  ranks  of  bards  were  tested  as  to  their  know- 
ledge and  ability  to  enter  the  higher  ranks.  Gerald  Barry,  a 
traveler  through  Britain  during  the  eleventh  century,  wrote 
an  interesting  account  of  some  of  his  musical  experiences. 
Of  the  Welsh  he  says,  that  guests  were  entertained  all  day 
with  music,  and  that  proficiency  in  harp-playing  was  con- 
sidered preferable  to  all  other  learning.  He  also  mentions 
their  practice  of  part-singing  (for  two  voices)  and  his  belief 
that  this  was  learned  from  the  Danes. 

Barry  mentions  a  similar  practice  of  music  in  Ireland,  the 
instrumental  part  of  which  he  praises  even  more  than  that 


Folk-Music  during  the  Middle  Ages  57 

of  the  Welsh.  He  impHes  that  the  Irish  were  industrious 
only  in  their  playing  upon  musical  instruments,  and  lauds 
their  skill  as  performers  upon  the  harp  and  tahor.  The  harp, 
among  the  inhabitants  of  Ireland  at  the  time  of  Brian  Boru 
(who  drove  out  the  Danes  in  the  tenth  century),  was  quite 
a  complete  musical  instrument.  The  specimen  still  to  be 
seen  at  Trinity  College,  Dublin  (said  to  have  been  the  prop- 
erty of  Brian  Boru),  must  have  been  a  fine  instrument  in  its 
day,  as  it  is  made  with  the  utmost  attention  to  every  detail 
that  might  help  to  strengthen  and  beautify  its  tone. 

The  Anglo-Saxons,  a  very  mixed  race,  were  also  great 
music-lovers,  but  their  poetic  hterature  was  of  a  higher 
character  than  their  music,  the  production  of  fine  minds  giv- 
ing expression  to  their  national  consciousness.  So  great  was 
their  appreciation  of  singers,  that  these  were  welcomed 
everywhere  with  great  hospitality;  even  King  Arthur  himself 
is  said  to  have  visited  the  camp  of  the  Danes,  his  enemies, 
disguised  as  a  minstrel.  It  is  claimed  that  secular  music 
in  England  during  the  Middle  Ages  was  far  in  advance  of 
that  in  other  parts  of  Europe,  and  there  is  reason  to  beheve 
that  various  musical  forms,  such  as  rounds  and  songs  with 
refrains,  or  so-called  burdens,  were  quite  common. 

There  is  in  existence  a  copy  of  an  old  Northumbrian  round 
entitled  ''Sumer  is  icumen  in,"  which  has  already  been 
mentioned  and  whose  approximate  date  of  composition  is 
1230.  This  is  a  highly  finished  work,  far  in  advance  of  the 
contemporary  French  school  of  whose  style  it  shows  traces. 
In  addition  to  its  being  a  round  for  four  voices,  it  has  two 
other  voice-parts  which  form  a  sort  of  ground-bass  {pes)  to 
the  round  itself,  which,  being  a  strict  canon,  shows  that  the 
pol}phonic  principle  of  imitation  was  well  understood;  its 
ground-bass  forms  what  was  later  called  a  hasso  ostinato  (a 
bass  part  that  remains  unchanged  in  spite  of  changing  harmo- 
nies above  it),  a  favorite  device  of  many  modern  composers. 
A   "translation"    of    the   manuscript  of   this   old    composi- 


50  Familiar  Talks  on  the  History  of  Music 

tion  may  be  found  in  Grove's  Dictionary,  under  its  own 
title. 

In  the  Northland,  in  Scandinavia,  Iceland  and  Finland, 
there  existed  before  and  during  the  Middle  Ages  a  class  of 
folk-poets  called  Skalds,  whose  ofl&ce  was  similar  to  that  of 
the  bards  of  Wales,  and  who  also  accompanied  their  songs  on 
small  harps.  The  poetry  of  these  songs  is  so  rich  in  imagina- 
tion, and  at  the  same  time  so  full  of  sentiment,  that  they  are 
admirable  even  in  their  translations,  which  of  course  cannot 
fully  equal  the  originals  in  ruggedness  of  character.  They 
sang  of  their  gods  and  their  heroes,  of  home  and  love,  and  the 
best  of  these  poems  formed,  when  collected,  the  great  Eddas, 
the  Norse  national  epics,  which  were  already  well  known  in 
the  eleventh  century. 

In  France  the  development  of  secular  music  resulted  in  the 
''Chansons  de  geste"  (songs  of  deeds  and  action),  which  de- 
veloped into  national  epics.  These  "Chansons"  were  tales 
of  the  romantic  and  heroic  deeds  of  Charlemagne  and  his 
followers  in  their  battles  against  the  invading  Moors  who 
ruled  in  Spain.  These  battles  were  the  deciding  factors  in 
the  religious  struggles  between  the  followers  of  Mohammed 
and  those  of  Christ,  and  their  issue  saved  France  and  Europe 
for  Christendom.  The  heroes  of  these  struggles  were  famous 
in  story  and  popular  song,  in  camp  and  town,  and  the  names 
and  deeds  of  Charles  ]Martel  (the  Hammer)  and  Roland  of  the 
Basques  became  the  afifectionally  treasured  possession  of  the 
common  people.  Each  of  the  races  whose  mixed  descendants 
formed  the  population  of  France  during  the  early  Middle  Ages 
contributed  its  share  towards  the  establishment  of  these  songs 
of  ideal  heroism,  and  thus  aided  in  the  formation  of  a  really 
national  life  and  a  national  language. 

Their  earlier  people's  song,  of  ballad  or  narrative  character, 
dealt  preferably  with  religious  experiences  and  incidents. 
The  following  is  the  first  stanza  of  such  a  popular  ballad,  in 
which  is  to  be  found  an  exaltation  of  religious  faith. 


Folk-Music  during  the  Middle  Ages  59 

"A  good  virgin  was  Eulalie, 

She  had  a  beautiful  body 

And  a  more  beautiful  spirit; 

The  enemies  of  God  would  conquer  her, 

Would  make  her  serve  the  devil; 

But  never  would  she  understand 

To  deny  God  was  in  heaven." 

There  are  some  twenty-three  stanzas  of  this  ballad,  telling 
how  Eulalie  refused  to  yield  to  temptation  and  was  there- 
upon thrown  into  a  fire  that  would  not  burn,  and  how  she 
flew  away  in  the  form  of  a  dove.  This  song,  because  of  its 
religious  character,  was  probably  sung  to  a  chant  something 
like  a  church  melody;  but  others  of  historical,  chivalric  or 
political  character  were  undoubtedly  sung  to  folk-melodies. 
These  ballads  were  a  great  power  in  society,  among  the  cour- 
tiers, among  the  common  people  in  the  towns,  and  the  polit- 
ical ones  made  the  most  powerful  courtiers  tremble.  Slander 
or  gossip,  as  we  call  it,  seems  in  those  days  to  have  been 
circulated  thus  in  metrical  form  in  rhymes  that  were  sung. 
If  any  man  did  something  violative  of  others'  rights,  one  of 
the  folk-poets  would  compose  a  song  on  the  subject  and  sing 
it  in  public  places  until  everybody  took  it  up  and  it  spread 
from  town  to  town.  Therefore  it  is  said,  that  when  a  man 
was  tempted  to  do  something  that  he  knew  was  not  right,  he 
often  fortified  himself  against  temptation  with  the  thought, 
"I  must  not  do  that,  or  they  will  make  a  bad  song  about  me." 
That  may  sound  strange  to  us,  but  even  within  the  last  few 
years  in  Norway,  Sweden,  Holland,  and  other  European 
countries,  I  have  heard  the  street-singers  singing  poems  by  pop- 
ular folk-poets  on  political  subjects,  on  matters  of  govern- 
mental policy  or  acts,  and  these  are  printed  on  very  cheap 
sheets  and  sold  for  the  merest  trifle,  a  fraction  of  the  Ameri- 
can cent,  so  that  they  are  taken  home  by  the  people  and  sung 
at  the  fireside  as  well  as  in  public.  Even  to-day  public  men 
and  people  generally  are  afraid  to  be  made  the  butt  of  one 


6o  Familiar  Talks  on  the  History  of  Music 

of  these  songs,  because  to  become  the  subject  of  derision 
through  song  means  death  to  their  hopes  of  political  or 
social   preferment. 

Charlemagne,  in  his  dream  of  a  great  Christian  European 
empire,  sought  to  compel  all  of  his  subjects  to  accept  the 
Christian  faith,  with  all  its  practices,  but  at  times  the  people 
rebelled.  The  popular  songs  of  the  market-places,  even  in 
those  earKer  days,  often  voiced  resentment  of  the  rulings  of 
the  Church.  Many  times,  as  we  find  later,  the  folk-poets  ex- 
pressed this  in  humorous  or  satirical  stories,  which,  unless 
their  purpose  is  known  and  the  local  allusions  understood,  are 
difficult  of  appreciation  as  criticism  of  the  acts  of  rulers  and 
of  edicts  of  the  Church. 

During  the  tenth  and  eleventh  centuries,  it  was  generally 
believed  that  the  world  would  come  to  an  end  in  the  near 
future.  Life  being  at  that  time  narrower  than  it  is  now, 
people  were  strongly  inclined  to  put  faith  in  such  prophecies; 
and  nations  even  refrained  from  making  war  upon  one  an- 
other because  of  the  unexpressed  feeling,  "What  is  the  use? 
The  world  is  coming  to  an  end  very  shortly  anyhow,  and  we 
shall  all  be  going." 

In  the  hope  of  a  happy  after-life,  and  wishing  to  stand  well 
with  the  Church  and  to  gain  her  forgiveness  for  past  sins, 
men  donated  land  and  money,  and  thus  gave  her  the  power 
of  wealth  in  addition  to  the  spiritual  power  which  she  already 
possessed.  When  the  expected  time  passed,  and  the  world 
still  stood,  men's  hearts  became  softened  and  kings  and  lords 
vied  with  each  other  in  erecting  the  great  European  cathe- 
drals, many  of  which  still  remain  as  tokens  of  their  gratitude. 
The  power  of  the  Church  in  those  early  times  was  univer- 
sally acknowledged  by  all  who  came  in  any  way  under  her 
dominion,  or  even  came  in  contact  with  her,  and  this  to  a  de- 
gree such  as  we  can  now  scarcely  realize.  IVIen  sought  the  ap- 
proval of  the  Church  above  everything.  Pilgrimages  to  this  or 
that  sacred  shrine  were  common;  to  atone  for  even  the  greatest 


Folk-Music  during  the  Middle  Ages  6i 

sins,  one  needed  but  to  bathe  in  the  River  Jordan,  or  to  sleep 
on  Calvary.  Because  of  this,  every  year  during  the  early  cen- 
turies hundreds  of  pilgrims  went  to  the  Holy  Land.  In  the 
latter  part  of  the  eleventh  century,  the  followers  of  the  Mo- 
hammedan faith  seized  Palestine  and  began  to  inflict  out- 
rages upon  these  Christian  pilgrims  who  came  to  do  penance 
and  to  worship  at  the  Holy  Sepulchre.  When  Peter  the 
Hermit,  the  pilgrim-monk,  returned  with  this  news  from 
Jerusalem,  he  traveled  through  Europe,  bareheaded  and  bare- 
footed, carrying  a  crucifix  and  inciting  all  he  met  to  rescue 
the  Holy  Land  from  the  hands  of  the  infidel.  A  council  of 
the  Church  was  called  at  Clermont,  in  1095;  the  fiat  went 
forth,  "God  wills  it  I  "  and  the  blood-red  cross  became  the 
symbol  of  the  Holy  War.  Several  popular  but  unsuccessful 
crusades,  under  the  leadership  of  the  monks  Peter  the  Hermit, 
Walter  the  Penniless  and  Godeschal,  resulted,  but  the  first 
effective  one  was  that  led  by  Godfrey  of  Bouillon,  Duke  of 
Lorraine,  who,  with  five  hundred  thousand  fighting-men  and 
one  hundred  thousand  knights,  including  Robert  the  son  of 
William  the  Conquerer  and  many  of  the  foremost  Christian 
warriors,  went  to  the  rescue  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre.  While 
resting  in  Constantinople,  and  during  similar  temporary  halts 
in  their  journey  to  the  Holy  Land,  the  knightly  crusaders 
became  familiar  with  the  refinement  and  culture  of  the 
Orient,  with  the  character  of  its  poetry  and  attendant  music 
then  in  vogue  among  the  followers  of  Mohammed,  and  espe- 
cially the  subject-matter  of  that  poetry.  It  is  an  apparent 
anomaly  that  in  Oriental  countries,  where  woman's  place  is  a 
questionable  one,  she  having  no  social  status,  poetry  should 
mostly  be  in  her  praise.  She  is  lauded  by  their  poets  for  her 
beauty,  her  perfection,  her  loyalty  and  devotion,  in  spite  of 
the  fact  that  she  is  not  allowed  to  enter  a  mosque,  because 
she  is  supposed  to  have  no  soul.  We  shall  see  what  influ- 
ence this  literature  and  music  of  the  Orientals  had  upon  the 
music  of  Europe. 


62  Familiar  Talks  on  the  History  of  Music 

Some  of  the  Oriental  music  heard  by  the  Crusaders  was 
difl&cult  to  learn,  because  of  the  peculiar  division  of  their 
scales  previously  mentioned;  but  their  method  of  singing, 
with  its  weird  ornamentation,  the  subject-matter  of  their 
songs,  and  the  little  instruments  which  they  used  (the  lute  and 
the  guitar,  unknown  to  central  Europe  until  brought  from  the 
Orient),  had  a  great  influence  upon  the  character  of  European 
secular  or  popular  music.  The  long  separation  from  home 
and  family  during  the  Crusades  had  also  deepened  the  emo- 
tional life  of  the  Crusader  knights,  and  upon  their  return  a 
new  species  of  poetry  arose,  especially  in  Provence,  called 
the  ''gay  science  of  Chivalry  and  love-service."  That  this 
**gay  science"  should  blossom  first  in  Provence  is  not  strange, 
considering  that  Grecian  culture,  brought  there  by  the 
Romans,  had  never  been  wholly  forgotten,  that  the  country 
had  been  in  a  comparative  state  of  peace  for  centuries,  and 
that,  under  its  brilliant  skies,  manly  courage  and  womanly 
beauty  had  always  been  held  in  high  esteem.  Music  soon 
began  to  adapt  itself  to  this  new  art,  this  *'gay  science,"  by 
liberating  melody  from  the  clog  of  calculation,  giving  it  the 
stamp  of  individuality,  and  thus  attaining  a  character  wholly 
different  from  the  music  of  the  Church.  Noblemen,  even 
kings,  devoted  themselves  to  it  and  were  called  troubadours 
—  inventors  or  finders  of  new  poetry  and  music.  William 
of  Poitiers,  a  noted  French  knight,  was  one  of  these  trouba- 
dours, and  so  were  Thibaut  of  Navarre  and  Richard  of  the 
Lion-Heart.  Among  the  many  stories  related  of  the  latter, 
one  tells  how,  after  returning  from  the  Crusades,  he  wan- 
dered away  from  the  army  in  Germany  and  was  captured 
and  imprisoned  in  a  tower;  how  his  ''familiar,"  as  he  was 
called,  his  friend  Blondel,  missing  him,  went  in  search  of  him 
and  finally  found  him  by  hearing  a  song  that  he  knew 
was  sung  only  by  Richard  of  the  Lion-Heart,  and  how 
this  friend  then  brought  succor  from  the  army  and  rescued 
him. 


Folk-Music  during  the  Middle  Ages  63 

Among  the  Provenjal  troubadours,  members  of  the  guild 
of  chivalry,  there  were  two  kinds  of  poetry,  that  which  was 
to  be  sung  and  that  which  was  to  be  recited.  The  same 
thing  obtains  in  the  English  tongue,  which  has  one  class  of 
poetry  that  almost  sings  itself,  it  is  so  strongly  rhythmical, 
such  as  the  poems  of  Burns  and  Tom  Moore,  and  another 
class  that  is  equally  beautiful,  but  does  not  so  readily  adapt 
itself  to  music.  An  example  of  this  latter  class  is  Long- 
fellow's "Hiawatha."  It  was  years  before  any  one  thought 
of  attempting  to  set  that  kind  of  poetry  to  music,  and  even 
then  it  could  not  be  composed  in  such  form  as  to  become  a 
popular  song,  because  of  the  length  of  its  sentences  and 
periods.  It  is  not  adaptable  to  the  style  of  song  called 
folk-song  or  ballad,  and  can  better  be  used  in  the  stateher 
forms  of  modern  music,  which  are  not  conceived  in  the 
smaller  metrical  forms  of  poetry,  but  in  which  the  music  is 
the  primary  consideration  and  the  text  the  secondary  one. 

In  the  troubadour's  conception  of  song,  the  sentiment  was 
the  chief  concern,  and  the  manner  of  its  musical  setting  was 
secondary.  Therefore,  the  singer  who  had  the  gift  of  im- 
provising the  text  and  then  setting  it  to  music  that  would 
convey  the  sentiment  most  clearly  and  forcibly,  with  an 
artistic  delicacy  of  touch,  was  the  great^  the  real,  Troubadour. 
Their  saving,  that  "to  exalt  the  music  at  the  cost  of  de- 
stroying the  word-meaning,  made  a  man  a  mere  minstrel  or 
maker  of  tunes,  and  to  be  a  real  troubadour  the  music  and 
the  words  must  be  in  complete  accord,"  shows  that  they  had 
a  fairly  good  knowledge  of  music  and  of  the  interpretation  of 
the  text.  Such  of  their  songs  as  have  been  discovered  also 
show  that  they  had  a  very  good  idea  of  the  compass  of  par- 
ticular voices,  and  WTOte  their  songs  accordingly.  After  the 
Crusades,  their  music  becomes  full  of  Oriental  turns  and 
trills,  what  we  now  call  fioriture,  with  many  notes  on  one 
word,  or  on  one  syllable,  after  the  manner  of  the  singing  of 
the  Arabs.     The  following  song  is  a  fair  example: 


64 


Familiar  Talks  on  the  History  of  Music 


^ 


31. 
L'AUTRIER 


Thibaut  (1201-1253) 


m 


u 


f 


i= — «^ 


:*=jfc 


m^m^ 


EB=i 


3e^ 


The  song  of  the  Northern  Troubadours,  called  Trouveres, 
was  different  in  character;  it  was  more  rugged,  and  did  not 
deal  so  much  with  love  and  romance,  but  more  with  the 
martial  side  of  life.  They  also  made  attempts  at  discant, 
and  sometimes  became  very  able  in  that  art.  They  did  not 
play  on  instruments,  but  hired  musicians  to  play  accompani- 
ments for  them,  while  they  sang  prepared  songs.  After  a 
while  these  players  of  instruments,  these  accompanists,  were 
employed  as  general  entertainers,  who  played  all  kinds  of 
tricks,  and  were  then  called  jongleurs.  Some  jongleurs  also 
knew  the  art  of  discant,  and  in  practice  took  liberties  with 
the  musical  rules  which  the  church  composers  had  pro- 
mulgated about  singing  in  fourths,  fifths  and  octaves,  and 
made  laws  of  their  own.  Among  these  laws  was  formulated 
the  musical  rule  that  a  dissonance  between  two  consonances, 
if  nicely  put,  was  very  interesting  and  very  pretty,  which  is 
a  contrapuntal  axiom  to-day.  It  was  from  the  jongleurs 
that  we  get  the  first  part-songs  for  men.  After  this  practice 
had  been  in  vogue  for  a  while,  the  more  educated  and  theo- 
retical musicians  came  along  and  formulated  musical  laws  in 
accordance  with  what  was  more  euphonious. 

During  the  period  of  the  Troubadours  and  Trouveres, 
there  existed  in  Germany,  and  especially  along  the  Rhine,  a 
similar  class  of  exponents  of  the  "gay  science,"  which  was 


Folk-Music  during  the  Middle  Ages  65 

there  called  Minnedienst,  or,  literally  translated,  ''love- 
service."  Heinrich  von  Morungen,  Prince  Witzlav,  Sperrvo- 
gel,  Gottfried  von  Strassburg,  Wolfram  von  Eschenbach, 
Tannhauser,  Heinrich  von  Osterdingen,  a  clerk,  and  Biterolf, 
a  sort  of  upper  servant  of  Herrmann,  the  ''Landgraf"  of 
Thuringia,  were  all  noted  Minnesingers;  some  of  them  were 
admitted  as  worthy  contestants  to  the  tournament  of  song 
whose  prize  was  the  hand  of  EUzabeth,  the  daughter  of  the 
Landgrave,  as  depicted  in  the  opera  Tannhauser.  The  de- 
mocracy of  art  is  nowhere  more  evident  than  in  the  fact  that 
talented  poet-singers,  even  though  not  of  the  nobility  or 
knighthood,  were  allowed  to  compete  for  such  an  exalted 
prize  at  a  time  when  class-distinctions  were  so  strictly  ob- 
served. Some  of  the  great  epics  of  the  time  of  the  Trouba- 
dours and  Minnesingers  furnished  the  basic  material  of  the 
poems  of  Wagner's  great  operas,  the  Ring  des  Nihelungen, 
Lohengrin  and  Parsifal.  The  stories  of  the  Holy  Grail,  of 
King  Arthur  and  Launcelot,  though  originating  in  France 
and  Provence  and  sung  by  the  Troubadours,  appear  in  German 
dress,  with  German  alterations,  in  the  songs  of  the  ]\Iinne- 
singers,  sung  at  times  even  in  the  market-places. 

High  ideals  were  thus  kept  before  the  common  people  until 
gradually  a  similar  form  of  song  sprang  up  among  them, 
which,  although  more  crude,  furnished  them  with  new  means 
of  expression.  These  folk-poets  and  singers  formed  a  society 
or  guild  similar  to  those  of  the  artisans,  and  called  themselves 
Meister singer,  or  Mastersingers.  Admission  to  'this  guild,  as 
to  others,  was  by  examination  in  the  knowledge  of  rales  gov- 
erning the  construction  of  songs  and  poems,  and  ability  to 
sing  them.  To  understand  how  much  that  meant  to  the  com- 
mon people  of  that  time  —  this  means  of  ex-pressing  that 
which  was  in  them,  of  giving  vent  to  their  feelings  —  to 
realize  this  to  the  full,  we  must  know  the  conditions  under 
which  they  lived.  Bands  of  returning  crusaders  often  drove 
out  the  people  from  their  towns  and  villages  or  else  le\'ied 


66  Familiar  Talks  on  the  History  of  Music 

tribute  on  all  who  remained.  In  time  the  farmer  came  to 
have  no  rights,  neither  to  his  lands  nor  to  his  crops,  nor  even 
to  his  children  —  to  his  family.  If  the  Overlord  wanted  any 
of  these,  the  farmer  had  to  give  them  up.  One  day,  the 
peasant  or  artisan  was  the  servant  of  this  Overlord  or  Baron; 
next  week,  another  Overlord  came  along  with  an  army,  dev- 
astated the  fields,  and  either  killed  the  farmers,  the  laborers 
and  artisans,  or  took  their  stock,  razed  the  former  baron's 
castle  to  the  ground,  and  made  the  laborers  build  him  a  new 
one.  Life  was  a  very  uncertain  thing.  Cities  and  towns 
that  were  rather  wealthy  made  compacts  with  the  robber 
barons  who  commanded  the  roads  and  confiscated  passing 
goods.  Several  cities  sometimes  banded  together  to  pay  tri- 
bute jointly,  in  order  that  they  might  be  free  from  the  threat 
of  destruction.  They  even  paid  annual  taxes  to  these  Over- 
lords, so  that  their  citizens,  merchants  and  others  could  go 
in  and  out  of  the  cities  without  molestation  or  hindrance. 
Such  were  the  conditions  under  which  the  people  of  those  days 
lived.  These  civil  difficulties  were  only  a  part  of  those  with 
which  they  had  to  contend,  for  they  also  had  to  reckon  with 
ecclesiastical  authority  and  punishments.  No  wonder  that 
men's  minds  became  unsettled,  and  that  they  sought  to  vent 
their  feelings  in  every  way  they  could.  It  was  under  such 
conditions  that  the  folk-poets  and  Mastersingers  arose,  and 
many  of  their  poems  therefore  deal  specially  with  the  vanity 
of  fife  and  reminders  of  death. 

Thousands  of  such  poems  were  written,  and  many  of  them 
have  been  collected.  Through  Wagner's  opera  Die  Meister- 
singer  the  name  of  one  of  the  most  prominent  among  these 
poets,  Hans  Sachs  of  Nuremberg,  has  become  a  household 
word  in  musical  families.  The  Mastersingers,  like  the  Welsh 
and  Icelandic  bards,  were  divided  into  three  classes:  (i) 
Those  who  had  to  do  only  with  the  metrical  difficulties  of  the 
songs  and  simply  learned  to  sing  them;  (2)  the  poets,  who 
could  compose  a  text  to  any  given  tune;   and  (3)  the  "Mei- 


Folk-Music  during  the  Middle  Ages  67 

ster,"  who  could  compose  both  poem  and  tune  within  certain 
rules.  The  rhythmic  form  of  the  text  was  determined  entirely 
by  the  tune;  the  tune  was  composed  first  and  the  text  was 
made  to  suit  the  tune,  and  usually  treated  some  political 
or  religious  subject.  The  same  tunes  were  used  over  and  over 
again  for  different  poems  as  new  poets  were  admitted  to  mem- 
bership. Robert  Burns,  under  the  title  of  his  poems,  often 
gives  the  name  of  a  tune  or  "air"  to  which  the  words  may  be 
sung.  He  sometimes  made  his  verse  to  fit  a  tune,  just  as  did 
the  Meistersinger,  but  he  did  it  as  a  poet,  an  artist,  not  as  a 
literary  artisan. 

Wagner  himself  probably  expressed  the  essential  charac- 
teristics of  the  Meistersinger  better  than  any  one  else.  This 
is  what  he  makes  Hans  Sachs  say  in  answer  to  Walter's  ques- 
tion as  to  the  requirements  for  a  successful  examination  as  a 
Meistersinger : 

The  poet  who,  with  brains  so  witty. 
To  words  and  rhymes  by  himself  prepared 

Can  shape  from  the  tunes  a  new  strain  or  ditty, 
He  is  a  Meistersinger  declared. 

But  a  few  years  ago  there  still  stood,  in  the  city  of  Nurem- 
berg, the  old  St.  Catherine's  church  where  the  Meistersinger 
examinations  were  held  for  centuries;  and  a  visit  to  the 
meadows  on  the  banks  of  the  slowly  flowing  Pegnitz  is  an 
event  in  the  life  of  the  music  student. 

The  flow  of  the  melodies  of  early  secular  or  folk-songs  may 
have  been  rather  stiff",  but  later  these  became  quite  free,  as 
may  be  seen  from  the  examples  submitted  below,  and  they 
furnished  another  ingredient  necessary  to  our  modern  art. 

32.  MINNESINGER'S    SONG. 

Sperrxogei.  (i  I  50-1 175) 

Fast  and  lightly  ^ 


68 


Familiar  Talks  on  the  History  of  Music 


gjspg^-gipg^^i^ 


-^^=i- 


:q=:zT 


^^^mm 


33. 


BROKEN    FAITH. 


Poetry  by  Heinrich  von  Morungen       Melody  by  Prince  Witzlav 


Fool-  ish  spir  -  it,  wilt  thou    nev-er     wear  -  y      Of      this  mad  love  that 
Sad  and  mournful  I   must  part  for     ev  -   er,    Be  -  trayed  by  love,  all 


^fe= 


-.zt=^=z^^ 


jry,  I         |_^ 


hath    so     long    de     -     lud  -  ed  ?  i      And    yet  'twas  she     who  in     her 
hope  and   faith    have      left     me.  ) 


^fc==j=rt 


=^^*= 


^E^ 


r^=Jt: 


=*=? 


{:=t=: 


^ 


=?cr^c 


i==:LiJ:= 


beau   -  ty, 


As  white   as       lil    -   ies,      red     as       ros    -   es, 


wound-ed     heart,    must    thou     for      ev    -    er  .     .     sor    -  row  ? 


Later  we  shall  see  how  the  popular  song  from  the  hearts 
of  the  people  was  permitted  by  the  Church  to  enter  the  Mass 
and  thus  into  the  church  service.  And  it  is  that  leaven  which 
finally  gave  music  its  liberty,  untrammeled  by  the  rules  of  the 
Church. 

For  your  delectation  I  wish  to  submit  some  of  these  love- 
songs  of  the  Troubadours  and  Minnesingers  of  which  I  have 
spoken,  and  regret  that  I  can  present  only  their  text.  The 
first  one  was  written  in  iioo,  by  Bishop  Fouquet  of  Mar- 
seilles, who  took  great  pride  in  being  a  good  troubadour. 


Folk-Music  during  the  Middle  Ages  69 

I  would  not  any  man  should  hear 
The  birds  that  sweetly  sing  above 
Save  he  who  knows  the  power  of  love: 

For  naught  beside  can  soothe  or  cheer 
My  soul,  like  that  sweet  harmony, 

And  her  who  yet  more  sweet  and  dear. 

No  greater  power  my  soul  can  bring 
Than  songs  or  lays  of  Brittany. 

Here  is  a  beautiful  stanza  by  the  troubadour  Bernard  Ven- 
tadour  (11 50): 

Little  can  sweetest  song  avail 

If  from  the  heart  it  does  not  come; 
And  from  the  heart  it  cannot  spring 

Unless  there  first  be  love  at  home. 
And  thus  is  love  the  soul  to  me, 

Of  all  my  song  and  all  my  joy, 
Entrancing  eyes  and  lips. 

Heart,  soul,  in  harmony. 

The  following  w^as  written  by  a  Spanish  troubadour  at  about 
the  same  time: 

Beneath  my  grief  I  fainted  not, 

And  hope  within  me  seemed  to  live. 
Until  the  moment  when  I  thought 

That  they  who  injure  ne'er  forgive. 
Be  pardon  ready,  oft  one  sees 

A  wound  inflicted,  ne'er  intended; 
And  oftener  by  carelessness, 

Than  by  design,  are  men  offended. 
I  hoped  in  vain  when  hope  had  brought 

Her  dreams  so  fond,  so  fugitive: 
I  hoped,  but  sunk  beneath  the  thought 

That  they  who  injure  ne'er  forgive. 

Here  is  another  Spanish  song  of  the  following  century: 

When  the  sea  groans  heavily  and  cries 

WTien  two  contending  winds  sweep  o'er  its  breast, 
One  from  the  East,  the  other  from  the  West, 

Till  the  one,  yielding  to  the  other,  dies; 


70  Familiar  Talks  on  the  History  of  Music 

E'en  so,  two  mighty  passions  angrily 
Have  long  contended  in  my  breast  until, 
Obeying  the  high  dictates  of  my  will, 

I  followed  one  — that  one  was,  love  to  thee. 

The  Minnesinger  Walter  von  der  Vogelweide,  whose  name 
is  prominent  in  the  opera  Die  Meistersinger,  is  responsible  for 
the  following  poem: 

Love  is  neither  man  nor  woman, 

Soul  it  hath  not,  nor  yet  body. 

And  no  earthly  sign  or  token. 

Though  the  tongue  of  man  hath  named  it, 

Never  mortal  eyes  have  seen  it. 

Yet  without  it  can.  no  creature 

Win  Heaven's  pitying  grace  and  favor, 
Nor  where  love  is,  will  there  linger 

Aught  of  fraud  or  baseness  ever, 
To  the  traitor  and  false-hearted 

Love  hath  come  not,  cometh  never. 

If  the  music  of  these  poems  was  at  all  expressive  of  their 
sentiments  we  must  grant  that  even  in  the  Middle  Ages  there 
existed  artistic  folk-songs,  and  that  secular  song  was  far  more 
free  than  that  of  the  Church. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  VOCAL  POLYPHONY. 

In  our  consideration  of  popular  music  in  the  Middle  Ages, 
we  dealt  of  course  only  with  secular  song,  the  unconscious 
art-expression  of  the  folk-spirit.  During  the  same  period, 
the  nurture  of  music  as  a  conscious  art  remained  in  the  hands 
of  cloistered  monks,  organists  and  church  musicians,  and  to 
them  we  must  return  for  a  further  investigation  of  its  devel- 
opment. 

In  pre\'ious  study  of  the  music  of  the  Church  we  have 
observed  the  oscillations  between  rhythmical  and  melodious 
expression  arising  from  differing  conceptions  of  the  best  mu- 
sical and  reUgious  interpretation  of  the  sacred  text. 

We  shall  now  trace  the  growth  of  this  new  art  of  vocal 
polyphony,  born  and  nourished  in  the  monasteries  of  Flanders 
and  fostered  in  the  churches  of  Paris;  we  shall  follow  its  pere- 
grinations from  country  to  country,  shall  see  it  cast  aside  the 
habiliments  of  childhood  and  grow  slowly  into  the  strength 
and  venturesomeness  of  youth,  gradually  losing  its  monastic 
habits  of  thought  and  convention  until  at  last  it  appears  in 
full  maturity,  invigorated  rather  than  weakened  by  the  train- 
ing of  its  foster-mother. 

In  its  search  for  expression,  musical  art  now  travels  side  by 
side  with  the  art  of  the  painter,  and  together  they  enter  upon 
a  new  life,  each  adding,  to  the  already  existing  delineation  of 
outline  and  form,  the  contrasts  of  Hght  and  shade  and  refine- 
ments in  color-effect. 

Both  arts  during  this  period  present,  as  in  a  mirror,  the 
reflections  of  contemporaneous  thought,  development,  habit 
and  exi:)ression.  This  is  readih'  perceived  on  examining  the 
paintings  of  the  time,  which  depict  scenes  of  actual  life.     Since 

71 


72  Familiar  Talks  on  the  History  of  Music 

the  Italians,  like  all  southern  nations,  loved  musical  sound  per 
se,  for  its  sensuous  effect,  instrumental  music  found  among 
them  is  most  propitious  environment  for  growth.  The  works 
of  Italian  painters  of  the  period  depict  various  contempora- 
neous musical  instruments,  as  well  as  the  manner  in  which 
they  were  played,  thus  affording  us  a  glimpse  of  what  was 
then  of  general  interest. 

In  the  allegorical  painting  of  "The  Triumph  of  Death,"  by 
Orcagna,  there  is  a  panel  depicting  "The  Dream  of  Life," 
which  presents  a  group  of  ladies  and  gentlemen,  one  of  whom 
is  playing  upon  a  beautifully  inlaid  instrument  of  the  violin 
family,  while  another  accompanies  upon  the  psaltery.  The 
ecstatic  joy  of  the  performer  who  loves  the  sound  of  his  in- 
strument is  visible  upon  their  faces,  while  those  of  the  listeners 
exhibit  either  an  intensely  thoughtful  interest  in  the  players, 
or  the  dreamy  expression  of  deep  emotion  engendered  by  the 
music.  The  whole  scene  is  one  that  must  have  been  familiar 
to  the  painter,  and  it  is  quite  possible  that  the  faces  in  the 
groups  are  portraits  of  his  patron  and  friends. 

In  Flanders  and  the  Netherlands  the  paintings  of  the  time 
indicate  that  the  vocal  art  was  the  one  most  commonly  prac- 
tised. One  of  the  altar-pictures  by  the  brothers  Ten  Eyck 
depicts  a  chorus  of  angels  grouped  around  a  reading-desk  on 
which  is  placed  the  book  from  which  all  are  singing.  The 
desk  forms  the  back  of  a  small  portable  pipe-organ,  whose 
player  acts  as  director  of  the  choir.  As  the  number  of  in- 
strumental players  represented  in  this  picture  is  quite  small, 
and  they  are  placed  far  in  the  background,  we  may  con- 
clude that  they  were  deemed  of  minor  importance.  That 
the  artists  have  endeavored  to  portray  that  which  they  had 
often  actually  seen,  rather  than  the  fruit  of  their  imagination, 
is  proved  by  the  fact  that  the  faces  of  the  angels  are  topically 
Dutch  and  that  their  mouths  are  opened  in  what  is  deemed 
the  proper  manner  for  the  correct  emission  of  tone. 

The  practice  and  love  of  singing  being  common  in  the 


The  Development  of  Vocal  Polyphony  73 

Netherlands  during  the  fourteenth,  fifteenth  and  sixteenth 
centuries,  it  was  but  natural  that  that  country  should  be- 
come the  training-school  for  masters  of  the  grand  polyphonic 
vocal  art,  whose  pupils  were  to  carry  its  ideas  and  teachings 
into  other  lands. 

At  the  beginning  of  the  fourteenth  century,  this  art  had 
begun  to  decline  in  importance  inr  France,  but  had  taken  on 
new  life  in  the  Netherlands.  This  migration  was  due  partly 
to  political  and  social  conditions,  and  partly  to  the  fact  that 
the  wealthy  and  prosperous  burghers  of  Holland,  Flanders, 
Hainault  and  Brabant  fostered  all  the  arts  and  therefore 
attracted  their  exponents  from  everywhere.  In  addition  to 
this,  the  politico-religious  disturbances  which  caused  the 
removal  of  the  Papal  See  from  Rome  to  Avignon  in  1305, 
brought  from  Italy  the  very  best  composers,  who  aided  in 
the  advancement  of  musical  culture  in  the  new  center  of  the 
arts.  Thus  there  came  to  be  established  what  is  now  called 
the  Gallo-Belgic  school  (13  50-1430),  the  connecting-link  be- 
tween the  early  French  school  and  that  of  the  Netherlands. 

The  first  master  of  importance  in  this  new  school  was 
Hermann  de  Zeelandia,  who  lived  in  the  first  half  of  the 
fourteenth  century.  His  chief  claim  to  recognition  above 
his  contemporaries  lies  in  his  efforts  to  eliminate  the  parallel 
fourths  and  fifths  of  his  French  predecessors,  whose  ears  had 
undoubtedly  rebelled  against  the  euphony  ( ?)  of  the  inherited 
Hucbaldian  organum  and  diaphony  —  witness  the  invention 
of  the  device  of  contrary  motion.  In  Zeelandia's  works  these 
intervals  have  almost  entirely  disappeared,  and  in  their  place 
we  find  a  free  use  of  thirds  and  sixths,  giving  his  part-songs  a 
more  agreeable  character.  A  native  of  Holland,  he  was  quite 
celebrated  as  a  teacher  and  as  a  composer  of  four-part  chansons 
whose  texts  were  in  his  native  tongue.  In  these  he  assigns 
the  melody  to  the  highest  voice,  the  soprano,  herein  departing 
from  the  time-honored  custom  of  the  Church  composers,  in 
whose  works  the  tenor  carried  the  cantns  firmus. 


74  Familiar  Talks  on  the  History  of  Music 

The  most  brilliant  exponent  and  master  of  the  Gallo- 
Belgic  school  was  Guillaume  Dufay  (i4cx>-i474).  He  was  a 
chorister  in  the  Papal  choir  at  Rome  from  1428  to  1437; 
thereafter  he  held  a  canonry  both  in  Mons  and  in  Cambrai, 
in  which  latter  town  he  died. 

He  was  the  first  master  to  formulate  rules  (canons)  for  the 
"imitations"  so  timidly  introduced  by  the  masters  of  the 
French  school.  Such  imitation  was  then  called  fuga  (a 
flight),  because,  as  was  naively  explained  in  the  writings  of 
the  time,  "one  voice  seems  to  fly  away  from  the  other  and  is 
pursued  in  a  pleasant  way."  Strict  imitation  was  exemplified 
in  the  canon,  in  which  only  one  voice-part  needed  to  be 
written  out,  as  each  singer,  guided  by  signs  or  written  direc- 
tions, knew  when  and  where  and  how  to  enter  with  his  part. 

Dufay,  who  was  not  only  a  musician  but  a  close  observer 
of  the  musical  trend  of  his  time,  soon  realized  the  vital  differ- 
ence between  the  music  of  the  people  and  that  of  the  Church, 
and  in  his  desire  to  bring  these  together,  conceived  the  idea 
of  introducing  the  folk-song  as  cantus  jirmus  in  the  Mass. 
He  chose  for  his  first  effort  in  this  direction  the  song  "L'omme 
arme,"  which  was  very  popular  at  that  time,  and  used  it  as 
a  melodic  basis  for  a  Mass,  which  became  known  under  the 
title  of  the  popular  song. 

34.  POPULAR  SONG:   "  L'OMME    ARME." 


L'om-me,romme  ar-me  .    .    . 

This  endeavor  to  produce  popular  sympathy  with  and  ap- 
preciation of  the  music  of  the  Church  brought  together  the 
two  elements  which  form  the  basis  of  our  modern  musical 
art.  Had  Dufay  stopped  at  the  simple  use  of  the  secular 
melody,  it  is  not  likely  that  much  criticism  would  have  been 
made  of  this  procedure;  but  in  his  attempt  to  imbue  the 
scholasticism  of  the  monastery  with  the  spirit  of  the  people. 


The  Development  of  Vocal  Polyphony  75 

he  permitted  the  use  of  the  secular  text,  so  that  we  hear  in 
the  Mass,  at  one  and  the  same  time,  the  solemn  ''Kyrie 
eleison"  and  the  "L'omme  arme,"  as  may  be  seen  from  the 
following  example: 

35.       Beginning  of  the  Kyrie,  from  the  Mass  "  L'omme  arme  " 

DUFAY 

Ky   -  ri  -  e  e      -      lei       -        -        -       son.  Ky       -       ri  -  e  e  -  lei  - 


To  detail  all  the  improvements  which  Dufay  made  in 
musical  art  would  require  too  much  time  and  space;  but  we 
must  mention  (i)  his  introduction  of  interrupted  canonic 
part-writing,  the  imitation  not  being  continuous,  and  (2)  the 
entire  elimination  of  the  obnoxious  parallel  fourths  and 
fifths  of  his  predecessors.  By  him,  in  fact,  the  pure  four- 
part  style  of  vocal  writing  was  inaugurated. 

In  his  labors  for  the  improvement  of  musical  art,  Dufay 
had  the  hearty  cooperation  of  Gilles  de  Binche,  or  Binchois 
(1400-1460),  who  was  " Chapelain-chantre "  to  Philip  the 
Good.  But  few  of  this  master's  compositions  have  been 
preserved;  but  he  was  highly  esteemed  by  his  contempora- 
ries, not  only  as  a  musician,  but  as  a  courtly,  honorable 
gentleman. 


76  Familiar  Talks  on  the  History  of  Music 

The  last  great  master  of  the  Gallo-Belgic  school  was 
Antoine  de  Busnois  (1440-1482).  To  him,  as  well  as  to 
Dufay,  we  owe  recognition  of  the  principle  that  euphony  in 
music  is  more  desirable  than  mathematically  calculated  con- 
struction. That  Busnois  was  bolder  in  his  harmonies  than 
Dufay,  is  evident  from  his  upward  resolutions  of  the  half- 
steps  of  the  scale,  still  carefully  avoided  by  Dufay  because  of 
his  adherence  to  Church  music  customs,  in  which  such  pro- 
gressions were  shunned. 

36.       From  the  Chanson  "  Te  suis  venut  " 
Soprano  and  Alto. 


Tenor  and  Bass. 
subject. 


1=^^^^^- 


Dufay,  Binchois  and  Busnois,  with  their  following,  form  a 
bridge  between  the  French  school  and  that  of  the  Nether- 
lands, which  latter  we  are  now  to  consider.  It  comprises 
the  Dutch  and  the  Belgian  composers  through  whose  efforts 
was  developed  that  great  school  of  vocal  polyphony  which 
finds  its  culmination  on  the  one  hand  in  Palestrina,  and  on 
the  other  in  Handel  and  Bach.  Their  efforts  seem  to  be  the 
first  that  were  directed  toward  making  counterpoint  sub- 
servient to  idea,  in  distinction  to  those  of  their  predecessors, 
who  wrote  much  counterpoint  for  its  own  sake.  They  sought 
for  euphony  and  beauty  of  expression  in  the  canonic  forms 
in  which  the  voices  were  related. 

The  two  hundred  years  from  1425-1625,  during  which  the 
influence  of  this  school  was  predominant,  we  shall,  for  the 
sake  of  convenience,  divide  into  four  overlapping  periods,  in 
each  of  which  some  great  master  is  supreme. 

In  the  first  of  these  periods  the  name  of  Johannes  Okeghem 
(142 5-1 5 13),  a  pupil  of  Binchois,  stands  out  above  those  of 


The  Development  of  Vocal  Polyphony  77 

his  contemporaries.  He  is  considered  the  founder  of  the 
Netherlandic  school,  and  is  called  the  father  of  artistic  counter- 
point because  he  developed  the  canonic  style,  the  style  of 
strict  imitation,  to  its  greatest  ingenuity.  That  he  carried 
his  contrapuntal  subtleties  to  an  extreme  can  be  seen  in  the 
minute  but  labored  workmanship  of  his  compositions. 

As  an  example  of  this  we  need  but  mention  a  Motet  for 
thirty-six  voices,  of  which  only  six  were  written  out,  each  of 
the  six  forming  the  theme  of  a  canon  for  six  voices  which 
could  be  sung  as  such,  while  finally  the  thirty-six  parts  could 
be  sung  simultaneously.  In  keeping  with  the  spirit  of  the 
age,  when  (especially  in  the  Netherlands)  all  sorts  of  artisans 
as  well  as  artists  and  musicians  were  members  of  guilds 
whose  secret  signs  were  known  only  to  the  initiated,  Okeghem 
wrote  a  number  of  so-called  "enigmatical"  canons  for  the 
singers  of  his  day.  Of  such  canons  the  theme  alone  was 
written  down,  while  Latin  directions,  couched  in  mystic 
phrases,  revealed  to  the  initiated  the  manner  of  their  per- 
formance. The  following  are  some  of  these  enigmatical 
directions:  "He  that  followeth  me,  walketh  not  in  darkness  "; 
"Ad  medium  referas  in  repetitione" ;  "Pausas  reHnque 
prioris." 

To  appreciate  his  compositions,  and  others  of  the  great 
contrapuntal  vocal  school,  one  must  hear  them  sung,  for  to 
play  them  on  the  piano  gives  no  idea  of  their  real  character. 
Okeghem  has  been  aptly  called  the  Bach  of  the  fifteenth 
century.  His  skill  led  to  a  general  adoption  of  the  free  con- 
trapuntal style,  which  gradually  became  less  florid  and  more 
simple,  so  that  all  the  ingenious  devices  fell  into  their  proper 
places  as  means  of  expression. 

His  influence  was  greatest  as  a  teacher,  for  his  pupils, 
whose  labors  form  the  second  period  ^1  the  Xetherland 
school,  came  from  everywhere  and  carried  their  knowledge 
into  distant  lands.  Among  those  pupils  must  be  mentioned 
(the   dates  are  only  approximate)   Jacob   Hobrecht   (1450- 


78 


Familiar  Talks  on  the  History  of  Music 


1505),  Antonius  Brumel  (1470-1518),  Johannes  Tinctor 
(1446-1511),  Josquin  de  Pres  (1450-1521)  and  Agricola 
(1446-1506).  Of  these,  Tinctor  spent  most  of  his  life  in 
Italy,  whither  we  shall  follow  him  at  another  time;  Agricola 
labored  in  Spain  and  Portugal;  Hobrecht,  who  lived  in 
Antwerp,  is  noted  for  a  beauty  of  expression  in  his  com- 
positions far  beyond  the  practices  of  his  time.  He  was  so 
highly  esteemed  as  a  learned  musician  and  director,  that  not 
only  did  the  great  choir  from  the  Brussels  cathedral  often 
come  to  do  him  honor,  but  the  director  of  the  Papal  church 
at  Rome  journeyed  to  Antwerp  to  learn  and  get  ideas  from 
him. 


37.       End  of  "  Parce  Domine  " 


Hobrecht 


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—  ' ' 1 — ■ — — ■ 

The  Development  of  Vocal  Polyphony  79 


nam.      Do 


The  compositions  of  Antonius  Brumel  exhibit  a  fine  har- 
mony quite  surprising  for  that  period,  as  he  dehghts  in  full 
sustained  chords. 


38.       Beginning  of  a  Motet 
Tenors  I  &  II. 


Brumel  (1470-1518) 


[=fi^=^^ 


;=2=n< 


t*E^E^E^^5^?E?ESE 


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Familiar  Talks  on  the  History  of  Music 


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The  great  luminary  of  the  second  period  of  the  Nether- 
lands schools  (1455-1525)  was  that  most  distinguished  of 
Okeghem's  pupils,  Josquin  de  Pres.  After  finishing  his 
studies  with  his  famous  master,  he  went  to  Milan  and  thence 
to  Rome,  where  from  1484  to  1494  he  was  a  singer  m  the 
Papal  Chapel.  His  genius  attracted  the  attention  of  Pope 
SLxtus  IV,  with  the  result  that  his  life  was  made  very  un- 
pleasant by  his  fellow-musicians;  so  he  went  to  Cambrai, 
Modena,  Paris  and  Ferrara  (1503),  where  he  made  a  great 
impression  upon  his  more  liberal-minded  colleagues.  Re- 
turning to  France,  he  ended  his  days  as  a  provost  at  Conde 
—  a  preferment  probably  due  to  Emperor  Maximilian  I. 
While  at  first  he  followed  closely  in  his  master's  footsteps, 
he  soon  surpassed  him  in  boldness  and  freedom  of  style. 
He  is  the  first  of  the  great  Netherland  school  whose  works 
exhibit  real  geniality  and  appreciation  of  the  aesthetic  value 
of  a  dissonance  in  the  expression  of  emotion  as  depicted  in 
the  text.  As  he  was  a  genius,  a  law  unto  himself,  and  a 
master  of  the  musical  devices  then  in  use,  he  was  not  strictly 


The  Development  of  Vocal  Polyphony 


obedient  to  the  academic  rules  laid  down  by  his  predecessors, 
although  very  exacting  with  his  pupils  in  this  respect. 
Luther,  one  of  his  greatest  admirers,  wrote  of  him:  "  Josquin 
de  Pres  is  a  master  of  the  notes.  They  do  as  he  wills. 
Other  composers  must  do  as  the  notes  will.  His  compo- 
sitions are  joyous,  gentle  and  lovely;  not  forced,  nor  con- 
strained, nor  slavishly  tied  to  the  rules,  but  free  as  the  song 
of  the  finch." 

That  he  was  a  man  of  wit  is  evident  from  some  of  his 
motets  written  for  special  occasions.  In  these  he  at  times  re- 
minded his  royal  patrons  of  their  promises  of  increased  salary 
or  distinctions  by  selecting  appropriate  texts,  such  as  "Portio 
mea  non  est  in  terra  viventium,"  or  "Memor  esti  verbi  tui.'" 
His  name  on  a  composition  was  considered  sufficient  proof  of 
its  excellence.  His  genius  enabled  him  to  break  through  the 
strict  forms  of  his  time,  without  abandoning  them,  and  his 
motets  and  psalms  are  still  effective  as  sacred  music. 

39.       Motet  JosQuiN  de  Pres 

Soprano  and  Alto 

A      -    ve       Chri     -     ste,      A      -     ve      Chri         -        ste, 


ve      Chri     - 


mo   -    la 


-  ve       Chri 


82 


Familiar  Talks  on  the  History  of  Music 


h 


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The  Italian  traveler  and  historian,  Baini,  speaking  of  the 
universal  popularity  of  the  Belgian  master's  works,   says: 


The  Development  of  Vocal  Polyphony  83 

"They  sing  only  Josquin  in  Italy,  France  and  Germany, 
Flanders,  Hungary,  Bohemia  and  Spain."  It  was,  there- 
fore, difficult  for  other  composers  to  obtain  recognition,  how- 
ever excellent  their  work. 

Nevertheless,  he  still  shows  the  influence  of  the  scholasticism 
of  his  age  by  his  two  musical  settings  of  the  genealogy  of 
Christ  according  to  Matthew  and  Luke.  Although  he  also 
practised  the  custom  of  uniting  sacred  and  secular  melodies 
and  texts  in  his  church  compositions,  he  evidently  realized 
that,  in  order  to  be  at  all  appropriate  to  each  other,  they 
should  at  least  express  the  same  general  mood;  for  in  his 
commemorative  Mass  on  the  death  of  his  revered  teacher,  he 
sets  against  the  tenor's  solemn  "Requiem  seternam,"  a  song 
of  lamentation  which  was  very  popular  at  that  time: 

Nymphes  des  bois,  deesses  des  fontaines, 

Chantres  experts  de  toutes  nations, 
Changez  vos  voix  fortes,  claires  et  hautaines 

En  cris  tranchants  et  lamentations. 

The  universal  approval  received  by  the  works  of  Josquin 
de  Pres,  and  the  great  honors  bestowed  upon  him,  led  to  the 
emigration  of  some  of  his  countrymen  and  many  of  his  pupils 
to  various  countries.  While  some  were  perhaps  actuated  by 
the  hope  of  acquiring  wealth  or  honors,  many  undoubtedly 
went  because  they  were  filled  with  the  genuine  art-spirit 
which  seeks  the  conversion  of  the  world  to  its  ideals. 

Almost  every  church  musician  of  the  period,  at  some  time 
during  his  career,  went  to  Italy,  the  home  of  the  Mother 
Church.  Many  remained  in  the  land  of  sunny  skies;  and 
some  founded  great  music-schools  which  in  later  years  were 
to  produce  numerous  eminent  musicians. 

Among  famous  contemporaries  of  Josquin  must  be  men- 
tioned Mouton  and  Arcadelt.  Jean  Mouton,  who  died  in 
1522,  was  so  musically  gifted  and  so  thoroughly  imbued  with 
his  master's  principles,  that  some  of  his  works  were  credited 
to  Josquin.     His  fame  rests  on  his  Motets  and  Masses,  but 


84  Familiar  Talks  on  the  History  of  Music 

still  more  so  on  that  of  his  famous  pupil,  Adrian  Willaert,  of 
whom  more  anon. 

Jacob  Arcadelt  (1492-1556)  in  middle  life  went  to  Rome 
and  was  admitted  as  a  singer  to  the  Papal  choir,  where  he  re- 
mained from  1540  to  1549.  In  1555  we  find  him  in  the  ser- 
vice of  the  Duke  of  Guise,  at  Paris,  where  he  died.  As  a 
composer  of  madrigals  he  attained  world-wide  celebrity. 
Most  of  his  serious  compositions  were  written  for  the  Church; 
his  "Ave  Maria"  is  even  now  sung  quite  frequently. 

The  leading  masters  of  the  third  period  of  the  Netherland 
school  were  largely  the  best  pupils  of  Josquin,  such  as  Gom- 
bert,  Goudimel,  de  Rore,  Willaert,  Ducis,  Hollander  and 
Jannequin. 

Nicholas  Gombert,  born  in  Bruggen  (Bruges)  in  1495,  is  the 
only  one  of  these  who  spent  most  of  his  life  in  his  native 
land.  Although  a  priest,  he  performed  the  functions  of 
chapel-master  during  the  greater  part  of  his  life.  The  hope 
of  fame  and  ecclesiastical  preferment  tempted  him  to  leave 
his  native  land  to  act  as  imperial  music-master  at  Madrid 
from  1530  to  1534.  Even  in  that  short  time  his  teachings 
undoubtedly  exercised  a  considerable  influence  on  the  Span- 
ish and  Portuguese  composers,  although  some  of  them  had 
studied  for  a  while  in  the  Netherlands,  while  others  had  re- 
ceived instruction  from  his  predecessor,  Agricola.  Upon  his 
return  he  was  given  a  nominal  office  which  enabled  him  to 
spend  the  remainder  of  his  life  in  peace  and  comfort.  In  his 
works  he  exhibits  an  even  greater  freedom  and  flow  of  melody 
than  his  teacher.  Most  of  his  fellow-musicians  acknowl- 
edged him  as  the  greatest  master  of  his  time,  and  historians 
agree  that  he  was  the  direct  precursor  of  the  Palestrina  style. 

Two  of  his  contemporaries,  Ducis  and  Hollander,  deserve 
more  than  a  passing  notice.  Benedictus  Ducis,  or  Hertogs 
(his  Dutch  name),  born  at  Bruges  in  1480,  a  pupil  of  Josquin, 
in  early  life  removed  to  Antwerp,  where  he  was  so  esteemed 
that  he  was  chosen  master  of  the  guild  of  musicians,  the 


The  Development  of  Vocal  Polyphony  85 


highest  honor  in  the  gift  of  his  colleagues.  At  the  age  of  4c 
he  went  into  retirement,  and  died  about  1540.  His  Passion 
music  and  his  Cantiones  sacrce  justify  his  fame. 

Christian  Jans,  or,  as  he  is  generally  known,  Christian 
Hollander,  was  born  in  Holland  about  15 19.  He  served  for 
a  number  of  years  as  chapel-master  at  Oudenaarde  in  Dutch- 
Belgium,  and  later  entered  the  service  of  Maximilian  II. 
His  Motets  are  among  the  most  brilliant  works  of  the 
Dutch-Netherland  school,  and  are  especially  noteworthy  for 
originality  of  rhythm,  declamatory  phrases,  effective  tone- 
coloring  and  animated  movement.  The  date  of  his  death  is 
unknown  (before  1570). 

One  of  the  most  talented  and  original  pupils  of  Josquin 
de  Pres  was  Clement  Jannequin  or  Janneken,  —  the  endear- 
ing name  given  him  by  his  countrymen.  His  early  compo- 
sitions were  for  the  Catholic  Church,  but  he  became  a  con- 
vert to  the  Protestant  faith  and  as  such  made  a  splendid 
setting  of  a  number  of  Marot's  poems  and  of  his  versified 
translation  of  the  Psalms.  It  is  as  a  secular  composer,  how- 
ever, that  he  shines  most  brilliantly.  He  may  well  be  con- 
sidered the  first  composer  of  ''program-music,"  and  as  such 
we  shall  meet  him  again.  Goudimel,  de  Rore  and  Willaert 
will  also  be  considered  later. 

While  the  fourth  period  of  the  Netherland  school  presents 
a  num.ber  of  excellent  musicians,  one  name  stands  out  bril- 
liantly above  all  others,  that  of  Orlandus  Lassus,  the  greatest 
of  all  the  Netherland  masters.  According  to  his  sojourn  in 
dififerent  lands  he  is  variously  known  by  the  name  just 
given,  or  as  Roland  van  Lattre,  Roland  Delattre,  or  Orlando 
di  Lasso.  He  was  born  at  Mons  in  Belgium  in  1520.  As  a 
boy  he  became  famous  as  a  soprano  soloist,  and,  in  the  suite 
of  Ferdinand  of  Gonzaga,  went  to  Milan,  Palermo  and  Naples. 
During  early  life  he  traveled  through  England  and  France, 
occasionally  residing  for  short  periods  in  Antwerp,  where  his 
great  abilities  stimulated  musical  enthusiasm  to  a  hiijh  oitch. 


86  Familiar  Talks  on  the  History  of  Music 

During  the  fourth  period  of  the  Netherland  school,  there 
lived  in  Holland  a  musician,  Jan  Pieters  Sweelinck,  who  at- 
tracted the  notice  of  all  the  musical  world.  He  was  born  at 
Deventer  in  Holland  in  1562,  and  is  said  by  some  to  have  been 
a  pupil  of  Zarlino  in  Venice  (though  this  is  improbable  on 
account  of  his  youth) ;  in  his  nineteenth  year  he  was  appointed 
organist  of  the  "Old  Church"  at  Amsterdam,  a  position  held 
years  before  by  his  father,  and  in  which  he  himself  remained 
till  his  death  in  162 1.  He  soon  attained  the  reputation  of 
being  the  greatest  organist  of  his  time,  and  so  many  young 
musicians  came  to  study  with  him  from  all  over  Europe  that 
he  became  the  founder  of  a  great  organ  school.  Among  his 
pupils  were  Samuel  Scheldt,  Heinrich  Scheidemann,  Adam 
Reinken,  and  the  Dane,  Dietrich  Buxtehude,  whose  works 
deserve  to  be  in  the  repertoire  of  every  organist.  It  was  the 
fame  of  Reinken  that  caused  Bach  to  make  several  journeys 
on  foot  from  Liineburg  to  Hamburg,  to  hear  that  great  artist. 

The  high  reputation  enjoyed  by  SweeHnck's  pupils  re- 
flected upon  him,  and  was  so  well  appreciated  by  his  coun- 
trymen, that  the  merchants  of  Amsterdam  presented  him  with 
a  splendid  fortune,  in  order  to  preserve  him  from  the  anxie- 
ties which  too  often  attend  an  artist  in  old  age.  His  vocal 
compositions  deserve  a  place  in  the  repertoire  of  ambitious 
choral-societies  as  superb  examples  of  the  a  cappella  style, 
and  direct  precursors  of  the  great  vocal  works  of  Bach.  His 
chief  title  to  lasting  fame  rests  upon  his  development  of  the 
organ-fugue,  a  branch  of  composition  wherein  his  first  worthy 
successor  was  J.  S.  Bach. 

In  our  consideration  of  the  French  school  it  was  stated 
that  its  masters  never  left  their  native  lands  to  spread  the 
practice  of  their  art,  but  were  content  to  have  young  mu- 
sicians come  to  them  for  study.  In  contradistinction  to  this 
we  have  noticed  that  most  of  the  masters  of  the  Gallo-Belgic 
and  Netherland  schools,  filled  with  zeal  for  their  art,  at  one 
time  or  another  in  their  lives  journeyed  abroad  to  spread  the 


The  Development  of  Vocal  Polyphony  87 

new  gospel  of  music,  a  mission  which  they  considered  almost 
as  a  sacred  duty. 

The  names  of  most  of  these  are  to  be  found  in  the  records 
of  famous  singers  and  musicians  connected  at  various  periods 
with  the  Papal  Chapel,  where  their  services  were  much  in 
demand,  not  only  as  composers  but  also  as  professional 
singers,  many  of  whom  went  abroad  to  seek  their  fortune. 
As  early  as  1467  the  Duke  of  Milan  sent  to  the  Netherlands 
for  a  choir  of  thirty  singers,  whom  he  paid  handsomely  for 
their  services.  These  cantori  ultramontani,  as  the  Flemish 
singers  were  called,  were  in  a  measure  responsible  for  the 
improvements,  in  church  singing  and  for  the  founding,  in 
Naples,  Rome,  Venice,  Munich  and  Vienna,  of  choral  societies 
which  became  favorites  of  the  dilettanti  and  the  general 
public.  There  are  still  extant  many  written  invitations  from 
princes  and  reigning  monarchs  requesting  the  presence  of 
schooled  vocalists,  who  were  thus  enabled  to  select  their 
positions  and  impose  their  own  terms.  Time  and  space  for- 
bid further  mention  of  their  work,  and  we  shall  now  turn  our 
attention  to  those  composers  and  teachers  who  went  abroad 
as  missionaries  to  preach  their  art  to  willing  and  sympathetic 
ears.  Among  them  we  have  already  mentioned  Dufay  and 
Okeghem,  who  labored  in  France;  Josquin  de  Pres,  who 
practised  his  art  in  Rome  and  Ferrara  as  well  as  at  home; 
and  Tinctor,  who  was  the  first  of  those  missionaries  to  make 
a  prolonged  stay  (1475-1487)  in  Southern  Italy.  He  was  a 
very  learned  and  scholarly  musician,  whose  works,  "Ter- 
minorum  musicce  diffinatorium,"  the  earliest  musical  diction- 
ary (printed  about  1475),  and  "Liber  de  arte  contrapuncti," 
a  text-book  on  counterpoint,  both  written  in  classical  Latin, 
did  much  to  unify  and  classify  musical  knowledge. 

A  majority  of  these  musical  missionaries  settled  in  Italy, 
the  Holy  Empire  of  the  Mother  Church,  and  while  some 
labored  quietly,  sometimes  in  obscure  places,  others  showed 
such  strong  individuality  in  their  work  that  they  attracted 


88  Familiar  Talks  on  the  History  oj  Music 

old  and  young  musicians,  and  thus  became  the  founders  of 
distinct  schools  of  music. 

Among  the  many  able  Netherlanders  who  selected  Northern 
Italy  for  their  home  stands  out  the  commanding  figure  of 
Adrian  Willaert,  the  star-pupil  of  Jean  Mouton.  After  a 
thorough  schooling  in  the  methods  and  learning  of  Josquin 
de  Pres,  he  went  to  Rome,  where  he  became  a  chorister  in 
the  Papal  Choir  in  1516.  When  the  authorship  of  one  of 
his  compositions  was  doubted  by  his  fellow-singers  and  de- 
risively ascribed  to  Josquin  de  Pres,  he  abandoned  his  position 
and  went  to  Ferrara;  later  acting  as  chapel-master  {Kapell- 
meister) to  Ludwig,  King  of  Hungary  and  Bavaria,  until 
1526,  when,  attracted  by  the  fame  of  the  gorgeous  life  of 
Venice,  he  set  his  face  toward  that  city.  Within  a  year  he 
was  made  director  of  the  music  in  the  church  of  San  Marco, 
and  there  began  the  most  glorious  and  effective  part  of  his 
career,  which  we  shall  consider  at  another  time.  His  suc- 
cessor as  musical  director  at  San  Marco  was  his  countryman 
and  pupil,  Cypriano  de  Rore,  who  had  been  the  master's 
assistant  during  his  lifetime. 

Other  disciples  of  the  Netherland  school  who  labored  for  a 
while  in  Venice  were  Verdelot  and  de  Buus. 

Philip  Verdelot  (//.  Verdelotte)  was  born  in  Belgium  about 
1490,  and  at  the  age  of  thirty  followed  Willaert  (or  Master 
Adrian,  as  his  name  appears  on  the  roll  of  choristers  at  San 
Marco)  to  Venice.  In  1530  he  went  to  Florence  and  con- 
tinued the  work  of  Hobrecht  in  the  domain  of  sacred  music, 
making  a  reputation  for  himself  that  extended  not  only 
throughout  Italy,  but  the  whole  of  Catholic  Europe. 

Jacob  de  Buus  (van  Boes)  was  born  in  North  Belgium 
about  1505.  As  a  student  he  was  attracted  by  the  possi- 
bihties  of  music-printing,  which,  having  been  invented  by 
the  Italian  Petrucci  about  the  year  1500,  had  proved  a  boon 
to  the  musical  world.  After  much  travel  through  Italy,  he 
settled  in  Venice,  where  he  established  his  own  music-printing 


The  Development  oj  Vocal  Polyphony  89 

establishment.  That  he  was  an  excellent  musician  is  evident 
from  the  fact  that,  in  1541,  he  was  appointed  organist  at 
San  Marco,  b^ing  chosen  in  preference  to  many  native  can- 
didates for  the  office.  Later  he  went  to  Vienna,  where  he 
remained  the  rest  of  his  life  as  organist  to  the  Court  choir. 

Among  the  musical  missionaries  who  wended  their  way 
into  Central  Italy,  to  Rome,  we  have  already  noted  Arcadelt, 
whose  style  was  almost  as  colorful  as  that  of  Willaert,  and 
who  after  several  years  of  fruitful  labor  for  the  Church,  went 
to  Paris,  where  he  died. 

Another  Netherland  master  already  mentioned  was  Claude 
Goudimel,  a  man  of  high  intellectual  and  musical  attain- 
ments, who  spent  many  years  in  Rome  and  then  emigrated 
to  Paris,  where  he  became  a  Huguenot  and  made  splendid 
musical  settings  of  some  of  the  Psalms.  While  in  Rome  he 
is  said  to  have  been  the  instructor  of  Palestrina,  whose  works, 
while  in  many  respects  surpassing  those  of  his  teacher,  show 
the  strict  training  of  the  Netherland  school.  In  addition  to 
those  who  practised  their  art  in  various  parts  of  Italy,  quite  a 
number  of  the  Dutch  and  Belgian  masters  went  to  Germany 
and  Austria,  Christian  Hollander  spending  the  greater  part  of 
his  life  in  Vienna,  where  he  joined  in  the  musical  labors  of 
his  countrymen. 

We  have  also  spoken  of  the  last  and  greatest  master  of  the 
Netherland  school,  Orlandus  Lassus,  who,  after  travels  in 
Italy,  France  and  England,  returned  in  1555  to  Antwerp. 
In  the  year  following  he  received  a  munificent  offer  from 
Albert,  Duke  of  Bavaria,  who  invited  him  to  bring  a  choir 
of  the  best  singers  from  among  his  countrymen,  and  to  be- 
come chapel-master  at  the  Bavarian  court.  Lassus  accepted 
the  offer  with  alacrity  and  traveled  with  his  chosen  singers 
to  Munich,  where  he  shortly  afterward  married  a  maid  of 
honor  to  the  Duchess. 

In  his  new  position  he  also  had  charge  of  a  number  of  in- 
strumentalists, who,  however,  rarely  united  with  the  singers, 


go  Familiar  Talks  on  the  History  of  Music 

as  the  purely  vocal  a  cappella  style  was  still  preferred.  While 
in  Munich,  he  wrote  his  celebrated  Penitential  Psalms,  as 
well  as  a  large  number  of  Masses,  Motets  and  Magnificats  for 
the  Church.     Although  a  contemporary  of  the  famous  Pale- 

40.       Portion  of  a  Magnificat  Orlandus  Lassus 

Soprano 


Fe  -  cit    .     .         po  -  ten     -        -        -        -        -        -        -    ti  -  am  in    bra  -  chi 


etc. 


►=ftc=«3s=4t=f^^*iz*3i=p3S:3=:3^ 


strina,  it  was  Lassus  who  was  universally  regarded  as  the 
"Prince  of  Musicians."  A  man  of  amiable  temper,  a  wit,  a 
superb  musician,  master  of  all  the  then  known  art,  he  was  uni- 
versally honored  by  prince  and  burgher,  who  vied  with  each 
other  to  do  him  honor,  so  that  he  was  knighted  and  deco- 
rated with  the  highest  orders. 

In  spite  of  the  demands  of  courtly  society,  of  which  he  was 
a  shining  star,  he  gave  much  time  to  the  gratification  of  his 
innate  desire  for  creative  work,  but  the  combination  proved 
too  much  for  him  in  the  end.  and  his  last  years  were  marked 


The  Development  of  Vocal  Polyphony  91 

by  depression  of  spirits  and  a  morbid  fear  of  death,  the  con- 
sequence of  overwork.  His  genius  was  strikingly  manifested  in 
his  versatility,  which  enabled  him  to  write  equally  well  in  all 
contemporary  musical  forms,  in  which  his  innate  sense  of  the 
beautiful  is  predominant.  With  him  closes  the  period  of  mu- 
sical development  known  as  the  Netherland  school,  whose 
art,  disseminated  over  the  whole  of  Europe,  furnished  the 
foundations  for  the  upbuilding  of  a  still  greater  art. 

In  this  era,  polyphonic  music  reached  its  highest  devel- 
opment as  vocal  musical  expression  in  the  impersonal  manner. 
It  was  the  natural  expression  of  a  collective  churchly  relation 
to  Gk)d,  and  therefore  gave  no  utterance  to  the  personal, 
individual  human  relationship  to  the  Divine  Being  which  was 
the  moving  impulse  of  the  Reformation.  This  human  note 
appears  in  the  works  of  Palestrina  and  some  of  his  succes- 
sors, through  whom  was  inaugurated  the  "Golden  Age  of 
Catholic  Church  Music." 


CHAPTER  VII. 

THE  RENAISSANCE  AND  THE  REFORMATION. 

In  spite  of  numerous  internal  doctrinal  disputes,  the  church 
of  Rome  maintained  its  jurisdiction  over  all  the  nations  of 
western  and  central  Europe  throughout  the  Middle  Ages. 

During  the  reign  of  Maximilian  I,  however,  a  religious 
movement  was  begun,  which  led  finally  to  the  division  of  all 
Christendom  into  two  great  denominations;  and  this  move- 
ment is  called  the  Reformation.  From  it  sprang  the  Cho- 
rale, which  had  a  potent  influence  upon  the  art  of  music. 

In  the  early  centuries  of  the  Christian  era,  the  Church,  in 
its  proselyting  zeal,  was  in  the  habit  of  sending  out  small 
barids  of  missionary  priests  to  convert  the  European  pagans. 
These  priests  would  select  an  open,  favorable  location,  or,  if 
necessary,  would  clear  a  place  in  the  forest,  and  after  build- 
ing huts  for  themselves  would  erect  a  chapel  where  they 
held  religious  services.  They  would  cultivate  the  ground 
after  the  improved  manner  of  the  Italians,  and,  if  possible, 
secure  some  saint's  rehc  in  order  to  add  to  the  sanctity  of 
their  chapel  and  make  it  more  attractive  to  their  neighbors, 
and  also  in  the  hope  of  miraculous  cures  of  the  various  ills 
to  which  mankind  is  heir. 

Once  the  people  were  converted,  they  built  homes  as  near 
as  possible  to  the  place  of  worship,  so  that  every  church  or 
monastery  became  the  center  of  a  town.  When,  in  the 
course  of  years,  the  congregation  became  too  large  for  this 
church  edifice,  another  was  built,  and  people  settled  around  it. 
so  that  a  map  of  any  old  city  of  the  Middle  xA.ges  presents 
a  series  of  ever- widening  circles  in  whose  center  stands  a  church 
or  monastery. 

92 


The  Renaissance,  and  the  Reformation  93 

The  monastery  of  St.  Gall,  on  the  slope  of  the  Alps  near 
Lake  Constance,  was  the  center  of  such  a  town.  Its  library 
contains  a  Latin-German  dictionary,  dated  a.d.  638  and  as- 
cribed to  its  founder.  Towards  the  close  of  the  ninth  cen- 
tury two  brothers,  missionary  priests,  were  on  their  way  from 
Italy  to  France.  One  of  them,  Notker  Balbulus,  fell  ill 
while  crossing  the  Alps,  was  cared  for  at  the  monastery,  and, 
with  his  brother,  decided  to  remain  there. 

In  the  music  of  the  Church,  which,  then  as  now,  was  sung 
in  Latin,  the  congregation's  share  was  limited  to  the  utterance 
of  the  responses  "Kyrie  eleison,  Christe  eleison,"  during  the 
chanting  of  the  hymns  and  psalms  by  the  priest  and  choir. 
These  were  in  the  habit  of  singing  on  the  last  syllable  or 
syllables  of  the  Alleluia  a  great  many  tones,  giving  the  char- 
acter of  an  outburst  of  jubilant  feeling.  As  these  jubilant 
outpourings  occurred  after  the  Alleluia,  they  were  called  5^- 
quences. 

According  to  his  own  writings,  Notker  Balbulus  had,  in 
his  novitiate,  found  it  difficult  to  remember  the  melodies 
of  these  long-drawn-out  Alleluias,  and  had  therefore  written 
sacred  texts,  one  syllable  to  each  tone,  to  fit  them. 

The  psychological  efifect  of  a  rhythmic  utterance  of  words 
upon  the  memory,  especially  when  sung,  is  now  universally 
recognized.  Every  recruit  in  the  army  of  this  or  any  other 
nation,  in  order  to  learn  the  drum  and  bugle  signals,  is  taught 
a  series  of  word-jingles  having  a  natural  rhythm  identical 
with  that  of  the  signals  whose  message  they  convey.  On  this 
same  principle  Notker  wrote  these  Latin  sequences,  which  he 
translated  into  German,  and  which  thus  became  the  basis 
of  German  hymnology.  The  people  learned  the  sequences, 
these  first  German  h\Tnns,  very  gladly  and  readily,  and  took 
such  delight  in  being  able  to  participate  in  the  services  of 
the  Church  in  their  own  tongue,  that  after  a  time  they  re- 
fused to  sing  in  Latin. 

After  the  popular  success  achieved  by  the  sequences,  the 


94  Familiar  Talks  on  the  History  of  Music 

priests  began  to  imitate  the  Kyrie  in  German,  in  order  to 
furnish  the  people  with  intelHgible  words  to  replace  their 
sometimes  inarticulate  explosive  responses.  Every  strophe 
of  the  verses  thus  composed  ended  with  the  words  ''Kyrie 
eleison,  Christe  eleison,"  and  the  whole  hymn,  sung  to  the  mel- 
ody of  the  Kyrie,  was  termed  by  the  Germans  "Leisen." 

The  following  hymn  to  St.  Peter,  written  originally  in  me- 
diaeval German  and  here  presented  in  a  free  translation,  is  an 
example  of  these  mixed  German  and  Latin  hymns: 

Our  dear  Lord  of  grace  hath  given 
To  St.  Peter  power  in  heaven, 
That  he  may  uphold  alway 
All  who  hope  in  Him  and  say: 
"Kyrie  eleison,  Christe  eleison." 

A  great  number  of  Latin  Hymns  were  thus  translated  into 
German  by  the  monks,  many  of  them  retaining  such  Latin 
expressions  as  were  familiar  through  frequent  recurrence  in 
the  services.  In  the  following  stanza  from  a  Christmas 
carol  which  was  in  use  in  the  early  Middle  Ages,  the  me- 
diaeval German  has  also  been  rendered  freely  into  English 
and  the  Latin  phrases  retained  in  their  original  places: 

In  dulcijubilo  (In  sweet  joy) 

Sing  and  shout,  all  below; 
He  for  whom  we're  pining 

Lies  in  prcesepio.     (In  a  manger.) 
Like  the  sun  is  shining 

Matris  in  gremio,  (In  his  mother's  lap) 

Qui  est  A  et  O.     (Who  is  Alpha  and  Omega.) 

Despite  the  Mother  Church's  restriction  of  the  practice  of 
such  hymns  to  feasts  and  pilgrimages,  religious  hymns  in  the 
vernacular  grew  into  such  popularity,  that  folk-poets  began 
to  compose  them  freely.  More  than  fifteen  hundred  such 
hymns  of  the  Middle  Ages  exist,  written  by  eighty-five 
poets;  most  of  them  semi-religious,  treating  of  the  vanity  of 
this  world.     The  following  stanza  is  a  fair  example: 


The  Renaissance  and  the  Rejormation  95 

O  Rose,  of  the  flowers  I  ween  thou  art  fairest, 

But  thorny  and  worthless  the  stem  that  thou  bearest, 

Fleeting  thy  beauty,  unlovely  thy  fruit. 
World!  I  would  liken  thee  unto  the  roses, 
Sweet  are  thy  flatteries,  sad  are  their  closes: 

Virtue  and  goodness  in  thee  have  no  root. 

Among  the  poets  who  wrote  these  hymns  were  a  number 
of  the  best  Minnesingers,  who  composed  their  own  melodies, 
which  were  quite  different  from  the  church  hymn-tunes. 

During  the  twelfth  and  thirteenth  centuries,  great  social 
and  political  changes  came  over  Europe.  Even  the  physical 
aspect  of  the  country  changed,  for  instead  of  being  a  mere 
pasture  for  cattle,  broad  stretches  of  open  lands  were  now 
covered  with  various  crops,  while  some  of  the  towns  grew 
larger  and  larger  until  they  became  great  cities.  In  ad- 
dition to  this,  upon  cliffs  and  mountains,  commanding  the 
fertile  valleys  beneath,  were  perched  large  castles,  erected  by 
returning  crusaders  or  lords  of  the  country,  whose  lawless 
retainers  often  carried  off  not  only  the  fruits  of  the  fields,  but 
the  very  children  of  the  laboring  men  and  farmers. 

Nevertheless,  it  was  an  era  of  rapid  growth,  socially  and 
commercially,  especially  in  the  cities,  which  formed  leagues 
of  defence  against  the  lawless  elements,  and  soon  organized 
as  independent  principalities,  entitled  to  representation  when 
the  nobihty  met  to  choose  a  common  ruler. 

Considerable  "politics"  was  shown  in  such  selections,  both 
in  the  Diet,  which  chose  the  Emperor,  and  in  the  College  of 
Cardinals,  which  chose  the  Pope,  often  resulting  in  war.  In 
13 14  Frederick  of  Austria  and  Ludwig  of  Bavaria  were  each 
declared  Emperor  by  different  factions  of  the  Diet;  this 
resulted  in  a  bloody  war  between  the  armies  of  the  rival 
emperors,  which  was  ended  in  1322  by  their  general  acknowl- 
edgment of  Ludwig  as  ruler.  The  Church  then  demanded 
that  the  new  Emperor  should  become  her  dependent  vassal, 
and  when  Ludwig  refused,  on  the  ground  that  the  unanimous 


96  Familiar  Talks  on  the  History  of  Music 

choice  of  the  people  was  the  true  source  of  power,  the  Pope 
forbade  all  the  ordinary  ministrations  of  religion.  During 
the  interdict,  which  in  some  portions  of  Germany  lasted 
twenty-six  years,  the  churches  were  closed  and  only  the  first 
and  last  sacraments  were  administered.  To  add  to  the  un- 
happy condition  of  the  people  during  that  period  the  country 
was  visited  with  earthquakes,  bad  harvests,  swarms  of 
locusts  and  grasshoppers  destroying  all  vegetation,  and,  to 
crown  all,  by  that  awful  scourge  known  as  ''the  black  plague," 
bringing  lawlessness  and  despair  in  its  train.  Men  and 
women  became  either  indifferent  to  religion  or  possessed  by 
a  religious  frenzy  which  spread  Kke  an  epidemic  and  resulted 
in  the  formation  of  ghastly  traveling  processions  of  bands  of 
men  and  women,  calling  themselves  Flagellants  and  White 
Hoods,  wandering  from  town  to  town,  half-naked  or  clothed 
in  white  garments  spotted  with  blood,  the  result  of  bodily 
flagellation,  and  singing  hymns  and  sequences  in  German. 
There  were  many,  however,  especially  among  the  clergy,  who 
revolted  against  the  interdict  of  the  Church,  encouraged  the 
reading  of  a  German  version  of  the  Bible,  preached  in  German 
and  wrote  songs  of  faith  and  hope,  urging  the  people  to  live 
rightly.  They  also  wrote  and  acted  "mystery-plays"  based 
on  stories  from  the  Bible  or  from  the  lives  of  the  saints, 
followed  in  later  centuries  by  the  art-form  which  we  now  call 
Oratorio. 

The  chivalric  spirit  of  the  Crusades  also  found  an  outlet 
in  hymns  of  praise  of  the  Virgin  called  "Marienlieder,"  and 
later  in  songs  to  the  Mother  of  Mary  called  "Annenlieder." 
The  spirit  of  unrest  was  quieted  somewhat,  during  the  early 
fifteenth  century,  because  of  the  comparative  stability  of  the 
German  Empire,  when  there  happened  two  great  events  — 
the  invention  of  printing,  in  1446,  and  the  fall  of  Constanti- 
nople, in  1453,  both  of  which  were  to  have  a  tremendous 
influence  upon  civilization  and,  as  a  result,  upon  all  art- 
music. 


The  Renaissance  and  the  Reformation  97 

The  influence  of  the  first  of  these  events  is  well  known; 
that  of  the  second  requires,  perhaps,  a  word  of  explanation. 
By  their  conquest  of  Greece  and  Turkey,  the  Mohammedans 
drove  from  their  monasteries  many  learned  Christians  who 
possessed  a  profound  knowledge  of  ancient  Greek  Hterature 
and  art.  From  them  Central  Europe  learned  of  that  ancient 
civilization  which  promptly  became  the  foundation  of  edu- 
cation and  thought.  Literary  art  was  the  first  to  be  affected 
by  this  new  learning,  but  gradually  painting,  sculpture, 
architecture,  and  finally  music,  yielded  to  its  influence,  ap- 
plied to  more  modern  environment.  As  a  result,  the  paint- 
ings of  the  Cinque-Cento  (sixteenth  century)  by  da  Vinci, 
Titian  and  Correggio  are  full  of  a  new  expression,  depicting 
the  subHmity  of  the  human  suffering  of  Christ  in  His  Passion. 
"Truth  to  Nature,"  which  became  the  watchword  in  art, 
finally  superseded  formalism  and  redeemed  Europe  from  in- 
tellectual and  scholastic  thralldom,  resulting  in  a  new  birth 
which  we  call  "The  Renaissance." 

The  discovery  of  America  broadened  the  scope  of  man's 
physical  activities  in  conformity  with  this  novel  intellectual 
and  spiritual  life,  and  helped  in  creating  both  eagerness  for 
new  conquests  and  confidence  in  the  unbounded  possibilities 
of  the  future. 

This  was  especially  the  case  in  the  thickly  settled  Nether- 
lands and  Germany,  whose  people  had  long  been  filled  with  a 
spirit  of  unrest  and  intense  dissatisfaction  with  existing  con- 
ditions in  society  and  the  Church. 

Their  learned  men,  such  as  Erasmus  and  Reuchlin,  now 
demanded  that  the  universities  teach  truth,  and  not  specu- 
lation. In  Germany  a  popular  leader,  Baron  von  Hiitten, 
called  upon  his  countrymen  to  resent  the  domination  of 
Italian  priests  and  Spanish  mercenaries  in  Church  and  State, 
and  to  assert  their  nationality,  and  thus  helped  pave  the 
way  for  approaching  revolt.  Persecuted  by  the  Church,  he 
wrote  a  stirring  song,  "Ich  hab's  gewagt,"  which  breathes 


98  Familiar  Talks  on  the  History  of  Music 

the  spirit  of  the  coming  Reformation,  and  of  which  we  present 
one  stanza: 

I've  ventured  it  of  purpose  free, 

Nor  yet  my  deed  I  rue, 
I  may  not  win,  but  man  shall  see 

My  heart  and  life  were  true. 
'Tis  not  my  own  I  seek  alone. 

This  they  must  know  at  least; 
'Tis  good  of  all,  though  me  they  call 

A  foe  to  Church  and  Priest. 

The  attitude  of  the  Church  towards  any  exhibition  of 
national  spirit  was  enough  to  embitter  patriotic  leaders;  but, 
in  addition  to  this,  thinking  men  realized  that  religious  wor- 
ship had  degenerated  and  become  an  aggregation  of  rules 
and  ceremonies.  They  noted  that  the  clergy,  at  one  time 
the  protectors  of  the  people  and  the  preservers  of  learning, 
had  become  not  only  ignorant,  but  also  avaricious  in  their 
demands  for  offerings,  by  which  they  claimed  to  be  able  to 
mollify  the  harsh  judgments  of  God.  The  spirit  of  antagon- 
ism to  the  clergy  was  expressed  through  a  most  important 
addition  to  Hterature  in  the  shape  of  satirical  works  hke  the 
stories  of  ''Reynard  the  Fox,"  "Till  Eulenspiegel"  and 
''The  Ship  of  Fools,"  which  were  printed  in  German  and 
Latin. 

In  addition  to  the  hymns  translated  from  Latin  into 
German,  and  those  written  by  folk-poets  and  Minnesingers, 
there  had  sprung  up  during  the  fourteenth  century  the 
German  Volkslied  (folk-song),  of  a  more  spontaneous  char- 
acter than  the  secular  chanson  of  the  Netherlands,  and 
therefore  artistically  superior.  Both  in  Germany  and  the 
Netherlands,  during  the  period  of  the  latter's  leadership  in 
the  art  of  music,  most  composers  considered  it  a  greater 
evidence  of  musicianship  to  be  a  symphoneta  (a  contra- 
puntist) than  to  be  a  phonascus  (an  original  composer); 
that  is,   they  preferred  the  adding  of  parts  to  an  already 


The  Renaissance  and  the  Reformation 


99 


existing  melody  to  the  invention  of  melodies  of  their  own  for 
contrapuntal  purposes. 

Heinrich  Isaac  (1450-1518)  was  such  a  German  phonascus. 
He  joined  the  group  of  Netherland  musicians,  consisting  of 
Hobrecht,  Agricola  and  Josquin  de  Pres,  at  the  Florentine 
court  of  Lorenzo  de'  Medici,  and  remained  there  from  1480 
to  1492,  when  he  took  service  under  Maximilian  I,  in  Vienna, 
where  he  died.  To  him  we  owe  many  fine  German  folk- 
songs, such  as  "Innspruck,  I  must  leave  thee,"  "A  peasant 
had  a  daughter,"  "O  world,  I  now  must  leave  thee,"  and 
"Now  peace  reigns  in  the  forest."  In  these  he  shows  the 
spirit  of  nationality  awakening  in  Germany,  due  to  the  in- 
fluence of  the  Renaissance.     His  immediate  successor  was 


41. 


Heinrich  Isaac 


Innspruck,ich  muss  dich  las  -  sen,     ich  fahr'  da  -  hin  mein  Stra-ssen       in 


Itni      i      "1"     1     ~1 

=_l  >  _j 

:-i=t=ih 

1---S — r- 

-y— ^*-J— *- 

:^-^J- 

b-j« — ^ [r_j — 1 

=1  *  * 

fe^-— : 

fremde  Land  da  -  hin.  Mein  Freud' istmir    ge  -  nom-men,    die    ich    nitweiss 


ich       in 


lend     bin. 


Ludwig  Senfl,  whose  Motets  are  the  best  specimens  of  German 
music  in  the  first  half  of  the  sixteenth  century,  and  who  also 
added  to  the  treasury  of  folk-songs. 

Another  German  master  who  wrote  genuinely  popular 
songs  was  Heinrich  Fink,  who  published  towards  the  close 
of  the  fifteenth  century  a  collection  of  "Fifty-five  Original 
Songs,  pleasing  and  well  adapted  for  instrumental  accompani- 
ment." 


ICO  Familiar  Talks  on  the  History  of  Music 

Isaac,  Senfl  and  Fink  had  considerable  influence  upon  the 
music  of  the  Reformation,  which  is  now  to  be  considered. 

During  the  early  part  of  the  sixteenth  century  John  Tetzel, 
a  Dominican  friar,  was  entrusted  with  the  preaching  of  the 
Papal  Indulgence,  which  required  among  other  things  an 
alms  or  donation  to  the  erection  of  the  church  of  St.  Peter  at 
Rome;  this  donation  being  looked  upon  as  part  of  the  pious 
undertakings  and  good  works  required  by  the  Church  as  one 
of  the  conditions  for  gaining  an  Indulgence,  at  the  same  time 
demanding  conversion  and  change  of  heart.  Towards  the  end 
of  15 1 7,  Tetzel  came  to  Jiiterbog,  a  small  town  not  far  dis- 
tant from  Wittenberg,  in  whose  University  Luther  resided  as 
a  professor,  and  the  people  went  in  great  numbers  to  hear 
him.  Luther  immediately  began  to  denounce  Tetzel,  claim- 
ing the  alms  to  be  an  abuse,  and  forthwith  attacked  the  very 
doctrine  of  Indulgence,  giving  as  his  reason  that  Divine  Jus- 
tice demands  of  the  sinner  no  other  satisfaction  than  a  refor- 
mation of  heart.  He  denied  that  anything  beyond  contrition 
was  needed  for  the  remission  of  sin.  Later,  on  the  eve  of  All 
Saints',  1517,  he  nailed  on  the  church  door  his  famous  ninety- 
five  theses  giving  in  a  formal  way  his  views  on  Indulgences. 
This  was  the  beginning  of  Luther's  deflection  from  the  Church; 
in  time  he  departed  further  from  its  dogmas,  and  formulated 
a  new  religion,  making  many  and  radical  changes  in  doc- 
trine and  liturgy,  all  of  which  exerted  great  influence  in 
matters  of  religion  as  they  concerned  the  people  at  large. 
He  also  objected  to  the  idea  that  the  language  of  the  Roman 
church  (Latin)  was  better  and  more  holy  than  others,  which 
were  to  be  considered  as  vulgar  and  unclean;  and  he  believed 
in  a  national  life  for  each  people,  untrammeled  by  Church 
government.  In  1520,  refusing  to  withdraw  his  objections, 
he  was  excommunicated,  and  his  connection  with  the  Church 
of  Rome  severed.  Believing  that  people  ought  to  worship 
in  their  own  tongue,  as  they  had  already  done  a  hundred 
years  before  under  Huss,  he  began  the  writing  and  compiling 


The  Renaissance  and  the  Reformation  loi 

of  those  grand  chorales  or  h>Tnns  of  the  Protestant  Church 
which  did  so  much  towards  making  the  Germans  a  singing 
nation.  While  a  great  admirer  of  Josquin  de  Pres,  as  well 
as  of  his  own  countrymen,  Fink,  Isaac  and  Senfl,  and  there- 
fore an  admirer  of  the  polyphonic  style,  he  did  not  believe 
that  kind  of  music  to  be  suitable  for  the  masses,  but  better 
adapted  to  the  use  of  singers  selected  from  the  congregation. 

As  an  evidence  of  his  love  and  admiration  for  the  contra- 
puntal style,  the  art-music  of  his  time,  the  following  quo- 
tation from  his  writings  is  of  interest:  "Where  natural  music 
(the  folk-melody)  is  improved  and  polished  by  art-con- 
trivance, therein  one  may  see  the  boundless  love  of  God,  who 
gave  to  man  this  power.  Nothing  is  so  strange  and  wonder- 
ful as  a  simple  tune  (tenor)  accompanied  by  three,  four  and 
five  other  voices  which  gambol  about  and  ornament  it  in 
many  ways.  I  can  but  liken  it  to  a  heavenly  roundelay  in 
which  the  participants  move  hither  and  thither  with  marvel- 
ous skill.  Those  that  listen  and  are  touched  by  it  cannot 
help  thinking  that  there  is  nothing  more  marvelous  in  the 
world  than  the  ornamenting  of  so  simple  a  melody  with  so 
many  voices." 

Luther  himself  loved  to  take  part  in  practising  the  con- 
trapuntal part-songs  of  his  day.  In  1524,  the  same  year  in 
which  appeared  his  ''First  Popular  Hymn-book  of  eight 
hymns  and  five  melodies,"  there  was  printed  under  his 
direction  a  "Sacred  Song-book  for  three,  four  and  five  voices," 
proving  still  more  conclusively  that  he  believed  in  polyphony 
as  well  as  in  unison  song,  as  a  means  of  praising  God. 

For  the  melodies  of  the  Chorales,  the  congregational  songs, 
Luther  selected  the  grandest  hymns  of  the  Catholic  Church, 
folk-songs,  and  some  which  he  had  himself  composed.  In 
making  these  selections  he  called  to  his  aid  Johann  Walther 
(chorister  to  Frederick  the  Wise),  to  whom  belongs  the  honor 
of  being  the  first  to 'harmonize  the  hymns  after  the  manner 
of  secular  song,  note  against  note,  and  Conrad  Rupf,  chorister 


I02 


Familiar  Talks  on  the  History  of  Music 


to  the  Elector  of  Saxony;  together  they  produced,  in  1526, 
a  complete  German  liturgy  with  a  number  of  hymns  for  the 
congregation.  These  hymns,  which  spread  over  Germany 
like  wild-fire,  were  full  of  dignity,  and,  while  the  melodies  of 
many  of  them  are  taken  over  from  the  Catholic  Church,  and 
the  prevailing  harmony  is  that  of  the  church  modes,  occasion- 
ally there  peeps  out  at  us  the  true  folk-song  spirit  which  was 
then  so  prevalent. 


42. 


OUT   OF    THE    DEEP   I    CRY    TO    THEE. 
De  profundis  clamavi  ad  te 


Gregorian  Hymn 


Harmonized  by  J.  S.  Bach 


Out      of     the  deep    I        cry       to   Thee ;    O     Lord  God,     hear  my 


^^ 


M 


r— f— r 


-=d 


3«^^^ilE£Ei 


' gl= 


af^E^ 


cry         -         ing :     In  -   cline  Thy     gra  -  cious  ear         to      me,  With 


Wi 


-•-    ai 


^^Effi 


►:      ^         :*:  ^  ^.      S 


ee^^Se2 


S^i=*=^^gJS^- 


^ 


^^4= 


«=^^ 


tr 


pray'r  to   Thee  ap  -  ply     -     ing.  For      if  Thou  fix  Thy  searching  eye  On 


The  Renaissance  and  the  Reformation 


lO.^ 


r^J^gE^^ 


'll 


^=r 


Zt.=3tl 


I       I 


i.^ 


all   sin    and  in  -   i  -  qui  -  ty,  Who.Lord,  can  stand  be  -  fore 


Thee? 


^=f=^r 


=t=t 


W^r — r 


-^~gR~r=" 


1     '^'—4 


3E?-lE 


"Oig — y^ 


=y — r btL-If^Z^jp-Tr+ia^-*- 


T^ 


■ftL». 


J=:::t:=t 


SI 


43.  NUN    KOMM,    DER    HEIDEN    HEILA^'D. 

Veni  redemptor  gentium 
Ambrosian  Hymn 


-1 \- 


LfEEEiE 


^3? 


d= 


S^ 


Sav-  iour    of     the    hea  -  then,known  As    the  prom-ised  Vir  -  gin's  Son, 

.^.        .^-        .^.        -m-       -«--  -JU        --^  -*-        -0-        i —        H —       -*•  -•      — 

1 1 •- 

. _ 1 C- 


m 


m^m 


:t^S= 


:iS= 


Come,Thou  wonder    of      the  earth,  God  ordained  Thee  such    a    birth. 


*L^_r 


^^r 


jl  „  ^ 


:i r- 


^c 


^ 


44. 


CHRISTMAS    HYMN. 


Ancient  German  Melody 


i^il 


nt 


All  praise    to       Je  -  sus'     hal  -  lowed  name,  Who,    of       vir  -  gin 


^=t 


T" 


f 


i^ 


5«; 


!f=lEE^ii 


«   -   r 

pure,     be  -    came  True    man     for       us.     The      an  -  gels    sing     As 

, -  -^    -J-     ^  -♦-  -•-  ^  -«--«-  ^  _  .;n 


H^ 


^ 


^ 


=t:= 


I04 


Familiar  Talks  on  the  History  of  Music 


the  glad    news  to   earth  they     bring, 


.    Hal  -  le  -  lu  -  jah ! 


^=^1g^^g^=^=g^g 


Luther's  desire  that  many  of  these  chorales  should  be  sung 
in  four  parts  is  seen  from  their  publication  in  that  form, 
although  after  his  death  they  began  to^be  sung  more  in  uni- 
son, the  organ  furnishing  the  harmony. 

The  Protestant  hymn-books  and  Hterature  were  placed  in 
the  hands  of  the  people  by  student-peddlers,  who  in  some 
places  were  made  liable  by  the  Church  to  death  or  impris- 
onment if  such  books  were  discovered  upon  them.  It  re- 
quired some  time  for  the  people  to  get  used  to  them,  for  they 
were  not  accustomed  to  taking  such  an  important  part  in  the 
services,  but  thousands  of  copies  were  distributed,  and  four 
printers  of  Erfurt  were  kept  busy. 

Now  the  spirit  of  these  songs  swept  over  Germany.  A 
noted  cardinal  of  that  day  said,  ''The  whole  people  is  singing 
itself  into  the  Lutheran  doctrine"  —  a  splendid  tribute  to 
the  power  of  the  chorale.  The  hymns  were  not  like  the  Eng- 
lish hymns  which  we  find  in  our  hymn-books  with  the  name 
of  some  person  or  place  as  a  heading,  but  were  named  accord- 
ing to  the  first  line  of  their  text,  as  may  be  seen  from  the 
examples  submitted. 

One  of  the  masters  of  the  Netherland  school,  Claude  Gou- 
dimel,  issued  a  setting  of  the  Psalms  which  was  published  in 
France  and  adopted  by  the  Huguenots.  These  psalms  are 
in  the  style  of  the  German  chorale,  and  show  the  avidity  with 
which  this  form  of  singing  was  received  everywhere. 

The  Renaissance  affected  musical  art  much  later  than  the 
other  arts,  because  music  had  no  prototype,  nothing  to  fol- 
low, nothing  even  to  imitate.     The  poet,  the  painter,  the  ar- 


The  Renaissance  and  the  Reformation  105 

chitect,  everywhere  found  expression  of  ideals  in  nature  and 
in  the  new  culture,  but  music  had  none  of  these. 

The  Church  Empire  of  the  Middle  Ages  was  backward  in 
its  sense  of  justice  with  respect  to  property  and  human  life, 
but  far  in  advance  in  its  love  of  the  beautiful  and  in  purity 
of  taste.  The  works  of  the  masters  da  Vinci,  Raphael  and 
Michael  Angelo  owe  their  being  to  a  prompt  application  of 
the  new  birth  of  intellectual  and  emotional  life  (the  Renais- 
sance), all  art  before  its  advent  (1500)  being  almost  wholly 
unexpressive  of  individual  emotion.  It  is  true  that  some 
Netherland  composers  of  the  period  strove  after  greater  musi- 
cal expression  in  conformity  with  the  new  thought,  but  the 
influence  of  the  Renaissance  was  not  yet  strong  enough  to 
affect  musical  art  and  to  break  through  mediaeval  restraint. 
An  Italian  traveler,  who  evidently  had  heard  the  hymns  of 
Germany,  is  said  to  have  criticised  severely  the  Papal  singers 
at  Rome  nearly  a  hundred  years  after  the  advent  of  the 
Renaissance,  by  saying:  "They  count  it  their  whole  joy  and 
merit  that  one  sings  Sabaoth  and  another  sings  Gloria  tua  at 
one  and  the  same  time,  and  this  jumble  is  accompanied  by  a 
bellowing  and  growling  more  resembling  the  cries  of  cats  in 
January  than  the  fragrant  flowers  of  May." 

An  even  stronger  impulse  than  the  art-spirit  was  necessary 
to  bring  forth  a  new  view  of  music,  and  it  was  the  teachings 
and  practices  of  the  Augustinian  monk  of  Wittenberg  that 
broke  down  the  bulwarks  of  mediaeval  artistic  tyranny,  em- 
bodied in  the  plain-chant  and  in  the  ban  of  the  Council  of 
Laodicea  against  congregational  singing.  But  although  Luther 
selected  only  the  rhythmical  Gregorian  chants,  rejecting  the 
unrhythmical  ones  as  too  difficult  for  the  uneducated  masses, 
we  have  seen  that  he  favored  polyphonic  music  for  certain 
parts  of  the  service. 

That  Luther  himself  had  a  strong,  almost  prophetic  sense 
of  the  Renaissance  spirit,  "Truth  to  Nature,"  and  of  the  ne- 
cessity for  a  faithful  musical  expression  of  the  inner  meaning 


io6 


Familiar  Talks  on  the  History  of  Music 


of  a  text,  may  be  seen  in  the  first  phrase  of  that  splendid 
chorale  which  was  the  battle-hymn  of  the  Reformation,  "Ein' 
feste  Burg."  What  an  impression  of  immovableness  and 
solidity  is  made  by  the  simple  repetition  of  the  first  tone, 
and  what  sublime  confidence  and  faith  are  expressed  in  the 
ending  of  the  phrase! 

45. 


Ein'    fe  -  ste    Burgist   un  -  ser  Gott,    ein' gu  -  teWehrund  Waf  -  fen. 

The  Catholic  Church  recognized  the  powerful  influence  of 
the  modern  scale  as  introduced  in  the  chorales  of  Luther; 
but,  in  its  antagonism  to  heretics,  refused  to  abandon  the 
Church  modes,  and  in  1543  called  another  council  of  the 
Church,  the  Council  of  Trent,  which  lasted  until  1563,  and 
whose  deliberations  were  followed  by  the  "Golden  Age  of 
Catholic  Church  Music,"  with  Pales trina  as  its  head. 


CHAPTER   VIII. 

THE  GOLDEN  AGE  OF  CATHOLIC   CHURCH  MUSIC. 

As  shown  in  the  foregoing,  the  most  striking  and  effective 
result  of  the  movement  begun  by  the  Renaissance  was  its 
bringing  to  the  world's  knowledge  the  fact  that,  ages  before, 
there  had  existed  a  civilization  more  refined,  more  complex, 
more  artistic,  than  any  known  during  the  middle  ages.  I  re- 
fer, of  course,  to  the  civilization  of  the  Greeks,  the  general 
knowledge  of  which  was  lost  for  many  centuries,  but  which, 
after  the  fall  of  Constantinople,  when  the  hermits  and  monks 
were  driven  out  of  their  shelter  by  the  Turks,  was  disseminated 
throughout  Europe.  The  monks  took  their  manuscripts 
with  them,  and  brought  before  the  eyes  of  Europe  evidences 
of  the  culture  that  had  existed  long  before  the  Christian  era. 
It  was  this  knowledge  that  caused  the  new  birth  of  intellectual 
and  artistic  life,  the  change  which  came  over  the  whole  world 
of  letters,  science  and  art,  which  is  called  the  Renaissance. 
This  change  amounted  almost  to  a  revolution,  in  which  old 
established  dogmas,  which  had  been  taken  for  granted  for 
centuries,  were  questioned,  and  when  men  fearlessly  investi- 
gated the  very  foundations  of  religion,  society,  science  and  art. 

This  new  intellectual  birth,  this  Renaissance,  affected  music 
in  some  respects  much  later  than  it  did  the  other  arts.  One 
reason  for  this  was  the  close  association  of  music  with  the 
Church  in  those  days.  The  Church  is  always  conservative, 
for  the  merit  of  any  change  ought  to  be  well  established  before 
it  is  sanctioned  by  rehgion.  Another  reason,  perhaps,  is  the 
fact  that  music  acts  upon  the  senses  through  the  ear,  and  in 
spite  of  its  wide  influence  is  more  than  the  other  arts  a  mys- 
tery to  the  uninitiated.     It  is  not  easily  affected  by  physical 

107 


io8  Familiar  Talks  on  the  History  of  Music 

environment,  and  draws  no  inspiration  from  external  objects 
except  through  the  sensations  excited  by  them. 

When  Catholic  Church  music  was  finally  affected  by  the 
Renaissance,  it  began  to  blossom  and  bear  such  fruit  as  it 
never  has  surpassed;  the  period  of  this  fruitage  is  usually 
called  "the  Golden  Age  of  Catholic  Church  Music." 

It  has  been  asserted  that  the  Renaissance  was  irreligious, 
but  this  cannot  be  true,  for  the  times  when  men  were  led  by 
St.  Bernard,  Savonarola,  Huss,  Luther  and  Calvin  were  cer- 
tainly not  times  of  irreligion.  The  Renaissance  was  op- 
posed to  ceremonies  and  outward  forms,  but  not  to  religion 
itself;  and  the  changes  to  come  were  favorable  to  the  ex- 
pression of  true  religious  feeling.  At  the  same  time  there 
could  hardly  be  a  better  proof  of  opposition  to  tradition, 
and  to  the  conservatism  arising  from  a  too  strict  adherence 
to  these  forms,  than  the  final  abandonment  of  the  church 
modes  and  the  general  adoption  of  the  modern  scale  which 
had  long  been  in  use  among  the  people  in  their  secular  songs, 
and  later  in  many  hymns  of  the  Reformation,  but  which  was 
called  by  the  Church  the  modo  lascivo,  the  vulgar  mode. 

All  art  has  three  periods  of  development:  (i)  The  period 
of  thought-conception;  (2)  the  period  of  drawing,  outlining  — 
form;  and  (3)  the  period  of  coloring,  filling  up  this  form, 
making  it  alive.  The  labors  of  Hucbald,  the  Francos  and 
the  early  French  school  show  the  thought,  the  conceptive 
period  of  musical  art.  The  age  of  the  Netherlanders  may  be 
considered  as  the  drawing,  outline,  or  structure-period;  then 
the  world  was  ready  for  the  color-period,  which  could  never 
have  had  its  subsequent  success  had  it  not  been  for  the  pre- 
ceding efforts. 

Many  a  so-called  student  of  the  art  of  painting  comes  to 
his  instructor,  or  to  the  art-academy,  bringing  specimens  of 
his  work.  The  master  will  say,  "You  have  a  fine  eye  for 
color,  but  you  do  not  know  anything  about  drawing";  or, 
"You  have  a  good  idea  of  color  and  drawing,  but  you  do  not 


The  Golden  Age  of  Catholic  Church  Music  109 

know  form,  structure";  so,  according  to  his  lack  in  any  of 
these  branches  of  the  art,  he  is  made  to  study  them.  The 
art-student  who  has  a  fine  sense  of  color,  but  an  undeveloped 
sense  of  form,  is  made  to  draw  all  kinds  of  simple  outlines  — 
a  skeleton,  a  head,  a  geometrical  design  — ■  anything  to  learn 
structure;  another  studies  originality  of  design;  one  whose 
color-sense  is  deficient  must  study  that  part  of  it,  for  art 
depends  on  these  three  elements. 

Because  of  her  high  commercial  standing,  and  the  wealth 
of  her  citizens,  Venice  was  the  art-paradise  of  the  world 
during  the  sixteenth  century.  The  Venetians  loved  rich 
coloring  in  everything;  within  their  houses,  in  the  stucco  on 
the  outer  walls,  in  their  mosaic  pavements,  in  their  pictures, 
and  in  their  dress. 

They  also  wanted  color  in  their  music,  whether  practised 
at  home  for  pleasure  and  as  a  pastime,  or  employed  to  en- 
Kven  and  magnify  the  pageants  of  the  republic,  or  to  heighten 
the  effects  of  the  solemn  religious  services  at  San  Marco. 
It  was,  therefore,  but  natural  that  Venetian  musicians  should 
seek  for  color  and  that  the  Venetian  school  should  be  the 
pioneer  in  this  new  trend  of  musical  art.  The  founder  of 
the  New  Venetian  school  was  Adrian  Willaert,  already 
mentioned  as  one  of  the  very  best  of  the  Netherland  school, 
who  emigrated  to  Venice  in  1556.  Within  a  year  after  his 
arrival  he  was  made  director  of  the  music  at  the  church  of 
San  ]\Iarco;  and  he  founded  the  first  of  the  great  music 
schools  of  Northern  Italy. 

Choruses  for  eight  and  even  more  voices  in  true  pol}phonic 
style  had  for  many  years  been  used  in  San  ]Marco  as  well  as 
various  other  churches,  but  their  harmony  was  the  result  of 
a  rigid  adherence  to  the  established  academic  rules  of  part- 
writing  and  imitation,  resulting  in  many  repetitions  of  the 
same  phrases.  Alternate  or  antiphonal  chanting  had  also 
been  practised  for  centuries.  The  presence  of  two  organs  in 
the  church  of  San  Marco  is  presumed  to  have  suggested  to 


no  Familiar  Talks  on  the  History  of  Music 

Willaert  the  use  of  two  distinct  choirs  for  the  antiphonal 
singing  of  the  Psalms,  and  this  led  to  his  discovery  of  the 
fact  that  the  effect  thus  produced  was  one  of  harmony  rather 
than  polyphony.  In  consequence,  he  began  the  practice  and 
study  of  harmony  for  harmony's  sake,  rather  than  as  the  re- 
sult of  an  intertwining  of  the  voice-parts. 

It  was  this  scion  of  the  North  who  began  to  expound  in 
his  works  the  true  and  natural  dependence  of  the  melody  on 
harmony  and  who  thus  created  a  new  style  of  part-writing 
in  which  the  individual  voice-parts  bore  no  melodic  relation 
to  each  other,  but  combined  to  form  one  effect.  In  doing 
this  he  passed  at  one  step  from  the  vocal  progression  of  the 
church  melodies  to  a  new  system  in  which  the  use  of  triads 
was  the  predominant  idea. 

While  his  contemporaries  Brumel  and  Arcadelt  had  shown 
in  their  works  an  original  feeling  for  chords  as  chords,  they 
had  never  made  harmony  a  basis  for  contrapuntal  writing. 
For  purposes  of  comparison  there  follow  the  Kyrie  eleison 
from  a  MaSs  by  the  English  composer  Wm.  Byrd,  written  in 
strict  polyphonic  style;  and  a  ''Dialogue  for  Seven  Voices" 
by  Willaert,  in  the  new  style.  Both  compositions  were 
written  in  the  first  half  of  the  sixteenth  century. 


46.  CHRISTE    ELEISON. 

Wm.  Byrd 

Chri     -      ste  .     .        e     -     lei        -        son,  Chri 


m^^ 


:tS2= 


Chri     -     ste  e  -  lei     -         -         -  -      son, 

Chri     -  ste      e    -     lei      -       son,  Chri      -      ste 


Chri      -        ste  .    .        e    -    lei 


The  Golden  Age  of  Catholic  Church  Music  iii 


ste         e     -     lei     -        -    son, 


Chri 


e   -   lei 


son,  Chri  - 


lei 


t—  —       I-       !=> L^'li=B^z=b» 


Chri       -      ste  e     -     let 


-I  -J- 


g^       ,    g^  — fc— ^ 


iin 


e  -    lei 


son,      e    -     lei 


47.       Dialogue  for  Seven  Voices 


WiLLAERT 


I     ,    L^  I- 


=^ 


3EEEsi"s^233 


When    the  earth    clothed      it  -  self      with 


When  the       earth  cloth  -  ed  it 


self 


Tenors 
^. ^^ 


Love,  when  wast  thou  born  ?\Vhen  the  earth  cloth-ed      it  -  self      with 
Basses                                                                             ,  .  ^  I 

— It   s> — — •ZE^—^ — *"  -t-si— 4-  --i-i-m —    s^^mzj:^ — ^ .-^^S?^ 


%^ 


'=?^^^t'  -|^r*I«_t^i_^ 


112  Familiar  Talks  on  the  History  of  Music 


m^^^^ 


T 
green  .     .    and  beauteous  col-or. 


*=3= 


with  green  and  beauteous  color.  Then       of  whom  wast  thou  born  ?  . 

I       1        ^ 


I      ! 


green   .    .  and  beauteous  col-or.Then       of    whom  wast  thou  .  .  bom  ? 


4riA^=^ 


-^-L=^a- 


i-^^m. 


J — u=>- 


t±^ 


zw:=r.=i:- 


'       I 


">T^ 


Then  of   whom  wast  thou  bom  ? 


A — --. 

Of                  a      warmth  .  . 

=3 =S=:S3=-^^- 

-t= 

which  ease   and 

-^ 1 1- 

plea    -  sure 

em    - 

r^r^ 

r^r^r-^^ 

L_^ — 
1 

vhich 

ease  and 

1^      1 
plea  -  sure 

r-^ 

Of. 

.     .      a       warmth       \ 

em  - 

-=7 — "*— .d-- 


-.rt — T^ 


Of 


a  .     .     .     .  warmth    which  ease  and  pleasure  em 


ife^i 


S^E^^ 


brace, wliich     ease 


Of       a    warmth  which  ease  and     plea  -  sure  .     . 

and     .     .       plea    -        -    sure  em  -  brace. 


em  -  brace,  which  ease  .     .     .        and  plea  -  sure   em    -   brace. 


The  Golden  Age  of  Catholic  Church  Music  113 

Willaert  was  also  the  creator  (in  its  present  form)  of  the 
Madrigal,  which  originated  as  a  love-song,  or  a  song  on  a 
pastoral  theme,  in  Provence,  thence  to  be  transplanted  into 
Italy,  where  it  had  been  in  use  for  many  years.  As  de- 
veloped, by  him,  and  enlarged  by  Monteverde  and  Cavalli  in 
later  years  by  the  addition  of  recitatives  and  cantilenas,  this 
musical  form  became  a  part  of  the  Dramma  per  musica,  or 
opera,  of  the  early  seventeenth  century. 

Willaert  died  in  1562,  honored  and  beloved  by  all  the 
citizens  of  the  great  Italian  republic.  He  was  succeeded  as 
chapel-master  of  the  church  of  San  Marco  by  his  contem- 
porary and  pupil  Cyprian  de  Rore,  whose  tenure  of  office  was 
very  brief. 

The  most  talented  among  the  many  Venetian  musicians 
who  had  the  advantage  of  instruction  under  Willaert  was 
Andrea  Gabrieli  (15 10-1586).  Following  in  his  master's 
footsteps  he  still  further  enriched  the  tonal  art  by  com- 
positions for  three  choirs,  which  are  very  striking,  marked  by 
noble  and  elevated  expression,  and  in  which  he  occasionally  uses 
instruments  other  than  the  organ  for  accompanying  the  singers. 

His  nephew  and  pupil,  Giovanni  Gabrieli  (1557-1613), 
who  succeeded  de  Rore  as  first  organist  at  San  Marco,  was 
equally  gifted,  and  attracted  the  attention  of  many  German 
musical  admirers  and  students  by  his  compositions  and  his 
superb  organ-pla>dng.  While  Willaert  had  written  Madrigals 
for  some  few  instruments,  the  younger  Gabrieli  increased 
their  number,  and  wrote  them  in  the  form  of  canzonetti  for 
from  eight  to  sixteen  instruments.  The  elder  Gabrieli  (An- 
drea) had  occasionally  used  instruments  in  his  church  com- 
positions, and  the  younger  (Giovanni)  added  still  others.  As 
the  organ  of  his  day  was  not  capable  of  a  crescendo,  he  used 
wood-wind  instruments  and  trombones,  as  well  as  violins,  to 
lend  additional  color,  creating  another  new  era  in  church 
music.  Through  the  efforts  of  the  Gabrielis,  instrumental 
music  thus  gradually  began  an  entirely  independent  existence. 


114  Familiar  Talks  on  the  History  of  Music 

The  favorite  pupil  of  the  younger  Gabrieli  was  Heinrich 
Schiitz  (of  whom  we  shall  learn  more  later),  who  speaks  of 
his  teacher  in  words  which  bear  witness  that  he  is  living  in 
the  Renaissance  period  and  has  absorbed  many  of  its  teach- 
ings. It  is  Greek  learning  that  illumines  his  language,  for 
his  statement  could  not  have  been  made  by  any  one  unac- 
quainted with  Greek  mythology.  This  is  what  he  says:  "I 
served  my  first  years  of  apprenticeship  under  the  great  Ga- 
brieli. Ye  immortal  gods,  what  a  man  was  that !  If  the  ancients 
had  been  acquainted  with  his  powers,  they  would  have  praised 
him  above  Amphion,  and  if  Melpomene  had  been  a  lady  in- 
clined to  marry,  he  would  have  made  an  ideal  husband  for  her." 

Willaert  and  the  Gabrielis  in  Venice  were  then,  as  color- 
ists,  the  beginners  of  the  great  change  in  music.  But  the 
culmination  of  Catholic  Church  music  was  reached  in  Rome 
by  Palestrina,  whose  work  we  are  now  to  consider. 

We  know  that  toward  the  end  of  the  middle  ages  the  musi- 
cians of  Rome,  like  those  of  Europe  in  general,  were  the 
pupils  of  the  Netherland  musical  missionaries  Dufay,  Josquin 
de  Pres,  Arcadelt,  Goudimel,  and  many  others,  all  of  whom 
labored  for  church  music  in  the  Holy  City,  and  followed 
each  other  in  almost  uninterrupted  succession.  From  the 
beginning  of  the  sixteenth  century  German  musicians,  instead 
of  going  to  Belgium  for  instruction,  went  to  Venice,  Florence 
and  Rome,  the  masters  of  these  cities  gradually  becoming  the 
leaders  in  musical  thought. 

Among  the  many  contrapuntal  masters  at  Rome,  in  the 
first  half  of  the  sixteenth  century,  may  be  mentioned  the 
Italians  Constanzo  Festa  and  Animuccia,  as  well  as  the  Span- 
iards Morales  and  Ortiz,  all  pupils  of  Goudimel  in  1539;  but 
the  greatest  of  that  time,  and  one  of  the  greatest  of  all  times, 
was  Palestrina. 

To  understand  the  improvements  made  by  this  master,  it 
will  be  advisable  for  us  to  review  the  condition  of  Catholic 
Church  music  at  the  time  of  the  Reformation. 


The  Golden  Age  of  Catholic  Church  Music  115 

As  we  know,  the  Renaissance  embodied  the  opposition  to 
conventionality,  which,  being  only  the  acceptance  of  the  evi- 
dence of  other  people's  senses,  sooner  or  later  degenerates  into 
symbolism,  into  signs,  in  which  the  substance  is  lost. 

The  Liturgy,  and  even  the  interpretation  of  the  Scriptures 
by  the  Fathers  of  the  Church,  was  variable,  changing  from 
century  to  century,  new  doctrines  being  added  and  old  doc- 
trines abandoned.  Not  so  with  the  music;  it  remained  con- 
ventional, the  plain-song  book  of  the  Mass  being  chained  to 
the  altar  in  token  of  its  unchangeableness.  But  the  progress 
of  art  cannot  be  checked  even  by  iron  chains,  and  the  rule  of 
the  plain-song  and  the  Church  modes  was  finally  broken. 
Their  use  in  original  composition  has  become  practically  a 
lost  art,  for  although  they  may  occasionally  crop  out  in  the 
works  of  some  of  the  great  composers  of  later  years,  the  fa- 
cility with  which  a  Josquin  de  Pres  handled  them  is,  at  least, 
very  uncommon  at  the  present  day. 

The  Church  ordinance  forbidding  any  alteration  of  the  Li- 
turgic  music  in  the  Mass  restricted  the  earher  musicians  in 
their  efforts  at  ennobling  this  service,  and  so  they  were  com- 
pelled to  make  additions  thereto,  the  first  being  a  h>Tnn, 
called  Motet,  having  the  same  words  as  a  preceding  portion 
of  the  Mass,  but  free  in  form  and  not  always  in  strict  style. 

About  the  year  1250,  this  ordinance  having  become  a 
dead-letter,  musicians  began  to  set  the  text  of  the  Mass  to 
new  music  not  in  the  style  of  plain-song.  In  doing  this,  they 
feared  a  lack  of  sympathy  and  understanding  on  the  part 
of  the  people  and  therefore  (as  explained  before)  used  the 
melody  of  some  popular  song  for  the  foundation  (the  cantus 
firmus)  upon  which  to  embroider  their  beautiful  counter- 
point. 

This  was  so  contrary  to  their  avowed  object  of  increasing 
the  impressiveness  and  solemnity  of  the  service,  that  we  can 
hardly  imagine  how  it  came  to  be  so  popular,  and  how  the 
Church  itself  could  sanction  it.     It  may  have  been  on  ac- 


ii6  Familiar  Talks  on  the  History  of  Music 

count  of  the  proselyting  zeal  then  so  active,  which  permitted 
the  use  of  almost  any  means  to  gain  its  end  of  conquering 
the  world. 

It  may  seem  to  us  as  if  that  kind  of  thing  was  unnecessary 
after  the  Church  had  been  so  firmly  established,  but  it  is 
only  another  example  of  how,  by  following  conventional 
usages,  all  proper  perception  of  the  use  of  things  may  be 
lost,  and  one  thus  led  into  ludicrous,  though  unconscious, 
inconsistencies.  The  evil  did  not  stop  at  the  adoption  of 
melodies  from  popular  songs,  but,  as  we  have  seen  in  Dufay's 
Mass  'TOmme  arme,"  the  secular  words  were  often  sung  in 
the  services.  When  the  .serious  effect  of  this  custom  was 
at  last  recognized,  the  Church  took  prompt  action.  That 
remarkable  gathering  of  the  learned  men  of  the  Church  and 
Catholic  monarchs,  the  Council  of  Trent,  which  was  con- 
voked in  1543  to  consider  the  heresies  of  the  Reformation, 
did  not  confine  itself  to  these  alone,  but  likewise  discussed 
means  of  purifying  its  own  Church  practices  and  methods, 
including  the  music.  The  Church  recognized  the  fact  that 
the  protest  against  certain  usages  which  caused  the  Reforma- 
tion was  a  just  one,  and  a  reform  in  the  Catholic  Church 
was  inaugurated  which  was  as  sweeping  in  some  of  its  declara- 
tions as  the  Reformation  itself. 

The  latent  energy  of  the  Church  awoke,  and  she  purified 
herself,  while  at  the  same  time  she  waged  war  against  all 
heretics,  succeeding  finally  in  reclaiming  for  Catholicism 
France  and  southern  Germany,  which  countries  are  still 
largely  true  to  the  faith. 

In  this  famous  council,  at  its  twenty-third  session,  was 
offered  the  following  resolution:  ''All  music  which,  either  in 
the  organ-parts  or  in  the  voice-parts,  contains  anything  that 
is  impure  [notice  that  word  impure  —  the  modo  lascivo]  shall 
be  banished  from,  the  Church."  The  resolution  would  prob- 
ably have  passed  had  it  not  been  for  the  influence  of  Emperor 
Ferdinand  of  Germany,  who,  knowing  the  effect  of  popular 


The  Golden  Age  of  Catholic  Church  Music  117 

melodies  in   the  Protestant  hymns,  persuaded  the  Council 
to  retard  the  adoption  of  the  resolution. 

A  committee  consisting  of  eight  cardinals  was  then  ap- 
pointed and  eight  singers  from  the  Papal  Chapel  were  asked 
to  cooperate  with  them.  They  met  after  the  adjournment 
of  the  Council  and  finally  decided  as  follows:  "That  the  Mass 
which  contained  popular  airs  should  not  be  tolerated,  that 
the  insertion  of  an  unauthorized  text  should  be  forbidden; 
that  motets  with  authorized  words  might  be  used,  but  that 
the  text  must  at  all  times  be  intelligible."  —  But  how  was 
this  ideal  to  be  realized?  They  asked  advice  of  the  Pope, 
and  he  suggested  that  they  consult  Palestrina,  who  had  al- 
ready made  himself  famous  by  a  well-known  Mass  whose 
opening  phrase  consists  of  the  first  six  tones  of  the  major 
scale  (the  "Hexachord  Mass"),  and  also  by  his  "Reproaches" 
for  Holy  Week.  And  so  a  Pope,  several  cardinals  and  sing- 
ers, an  emperor  and  a  musician,  all  had  a  hand  in  the  musical 
regeneration  which  followed. 


48.        Part  of  a  Magnificat 

De  -  po  -  su  -  it      po  -  ten  -  tes   de         se      -      de, 


Palestrina 


J_4 ; L.    '      I-  i_j_j 


De  -  po  -  su  -it    po  -  ten  -  tes  de    se 


1-:^ 


De       -      po    -     su  ■ 


de    -     po      -      su    -    it  po 

_-| 4 -J _ 


i^g 


de, 


It  po     -    ten 


igE=5^^l3E?ESl 


de    -    po    -    su      -      it  po  •  ten 


tes      de  se 


ii8  Familiar  Talks  on  the  History  of  Music 


se      -     de,       po     -         -        -  ten  -  tes      de       se       -        -de. 


3=I^^^^_Eg^gf^ 


-^-=^iii=^ 


[-^ 


te 


tes    de        se     -         -  -  -         -     de, 

-«■  •       -•-    -O-     -IS.  -.^1  .t=L     .fs-     -<=-  «-    -, 


de,     de  -  po   -    su  -  it       po     -     ten      -      tes     de      se       -       de,     et      ex  -  al     - 

Palestrina  was  a  devoutly  religious  man.  Feeling  that 
upon  his  shoulders  rested  the  responsibility  for  the  future  of 
Catholic  Church  music,  he  was  unwilling  to  allow  the  de- 
cision to  be  made  on  one  work,  and  therefore  wrote  three 
great  Masses  which  in  1565  were  sung  in  private  before  the 
committee  of  Cardinals  by  the  very  best  singers  available. 
The  three  Masses  were  written  for  six  voices  (soprano,  alto, 
two  tenors  and  two  basses),  and  while  the  first  two  excited  a 
great  deal  of  admiration,  the  third  one,  which  is  now  called 
the  Missa  Papae  Marcelli,  evoked  genuine  enthusiasm,  and 
has  ever  since  been  the  admiration  of  all  musicians.  While 
the  composer  employed  all  the  subtleties  and  ingenious 
artifices  of  musical  science  known  to  the  Netherland  school, 
of  which  he  was  a  master,  the  devices  of  canon  Sind  fugue  now 
fell  into  their  true  relationship  to  real  art,  but  they  were  not 
the  art  itself.  Palestrina  breathed  into  the  dry  formulae  of 
music  the  breath  and  color  of  life,  endowing  it  with  wonder- 
ful beauty. 

The  Missa  Papae  Marcelli  was  declared  the  model  of  all 
future  Catholic  Church  music,  not  only  because  of  its  fault- 
less symmetry  and  beauty,  and  its  superior  rehgious  char- 
acter, but  because  art  and  the  ingenuity  of  polyphony  had 
become  subservient  to  natural  human  expression. 

Palestrina  brought  to  his  work  qualities  of  heart  and  mind 
which  are  an  absolute  necessity  to  a  composer  of  really 
sacred  church  music.  He  had  earnestness  and  rehgious  feel- 
ing, musical  scholarship,  a  mastery  of  the  contrapuntal  art, 
besides  artistic  ideals  which  were  too  lofty  to  allow  technical 


The  Golden  Age  of  Catholic  Church  Music  119 

display  to  obscure  them.  His  music  is  ethereal,  free  from 
earthly  suggestions.  It  is  not  homophonic  like  our  music, 
consisting  largely  of  a  melody  with  an  accompaniment,  but 
each  voice  is  led  in  true  contrapuntal  style,  a  series  of  melodic 
waves  in  one  harmonic  mass.  As  we  Hsten  to  Palestrina's 
music,  analytic  spirit  and  effort  disappear  and  the  power  of 
the  music  steals  over  us,  producing  a  feeling  of  religious  awe. 
It  is  not  worldly  music,  dressed  up  in  cassock  and  cowl,  but 
it  is  religious,  universally  rehgious  music.  The  harmonies 
are  natural  and  spontaneous,  not  as  if  certain  effects  had 
been  sought  and  then  produced,  but  as  if  it  could  not  have 
been  otherwise.  The  style  of  composition  in  the  Masses 
mentioned  is  known  as  the  "Palestrina  style." 

A  word  of  explanation  as  to  some  characteristics  of  Pale- 
strina's music  may  be  of  value.  The  first  is,  that  rhythm,  as 
such,  is  absolutely  absent.  There  is  no  accent,  no  meter. 
The  music  just  seems  to  float  in  the  air  and  never  to  reach 
the  earth.  It  is  always  above  the  earth.  The  Catholic 
church  desires  it  to-day,  as  then,  to  lift  people's  thoughts 
from  the  earth,  to  lift  them  to  a  higher  plane.  If  we  do  not 
like  it,  the  trouble  is  with  us  and  not  with  the  music.  Our 
modern  ears  are  so  attuned  to  other  kinds  of  music  that  we 
cannot  bear  the  strain  of  listening  to  compositions  of  this 
character  very  long.  An  audience  of  people  who  do  not 
know  music  cannot  be  expected  to  enjoy  a  two  hours'  recital 
of  Bach's  works.  This  does  not  imply  that  Bach  is  not  en- 
joyable or  interesting,  but  that  the  audience  cannot  lift 
itself  to  his  plane.  It  is  thus  with  Palestrina's  music,  it  is 
above  us.  The  musical  laymen  can  hear  a  little  of  it  —  but 
not  very  much  —  and  enjoy  it.  It  is  too  mystical,  too 
ethereal,  or,  shall  we  say,  too  mild,  for  our  modern  musical 
palates,  which  demand  highly-spiced  food. 

The  Palestrina  style,  while  based  upon  the  Gregorian  chant 
in  its  utmost  purity,  is  also  colored  by  deep  human  feeling. 
Some  of  his  predecessors  of  the  Netherland  school  often  de- 


I20 


Familiar  Talks  on  the  History  of  Music 


parted  from  the  canonic  law  when  they  wished  to  reach  the 
human  heart,  but  none  of  them  raised  his  style  to  the  per- 
fection of  that  of  Palestrina,  who,  in  this  deep  expression  of 
human  feeUng,  reached  the  summit  of  Catholic  Church  music. 


49. 


Soprano  and  Alto 
Tranquillo 


TENEBR/E   FACT/E   SUNT. 


dum         cru    -    ci    -      fix 
Marcato 


Palestrina 

sent        Je 


7"^ 


— ' ^^- 


=5? 


=]= 


Te-ne-bras  fac  -  tas  sunt,  dum    cru-ci-fix    -      is  -  sent        Je    - 

dum  cru    -     ci  -     fix -is- sent  Je    - 


Tenor  and  Bass 


=j=- 


I   I 


Sui 


-~t=^ 


=^ 


dum 


cru    -    ci  -  fix  -  is 


sent  Je 


sum      Ju  -   ds     -    i. 


\=^r 


i — I  -h — 1"^ -|— 

:s3 rt— bazi^M       *j=::a._L5g- 


=l=t:: 


:t^ 


2^^ 


t^- 


-5^ 


sum    Ju  -  dae    -    i.         Et    cir  -  ca      ho  -  ram     no  -   vem      ex      -     cla 

sum  ^^^^^^^^^^^^^  ^_^ 


^i^= 


:X=^=^: 


r-l=t:i: 


i=C=t: 


-fS* 1 — IS*- 


£*-;=; 


sum     Ju   -   ds 


-    cla  -  ma-vit       Je 


m^:^ 


ma  -  vit     Je  -  sus,    Je 
ex       -  -       cla  -  ma 


vit       Je 


ce     ma 
ce      ma 

I  /    I 


■.-z±i 


rr    V.- 


cla    -  ma  -  vit    Je     -        -    sus 


The  Golden  Age  of  Catholic  Church  Music  121 


( 


gna  :     De   -    us  me    -         -    us,  .     .       ut  quid  me  de-  re  -  li  -  qui  -  sti  ? 
gna: 


f 


Soprano  I  &  II 

« : 


Ex        -        cla    -    mans  Je      -    sus  vo 


ce  ma 


i       I      ^   I I 


0L-^3K^ 


Ex  -  cla    -    mans  Je      -     sus    vo  -  ce  ma 


Alto 


gna, 


W 


Ex     -    cla 


mansje       -      sus 


gna 
^oco  rit. 


a      -      it  :  In     ma  -  nus  tu     -    as,     Do- mi  -  ne, 


-":s=PtJ^ 


I     I  /■ 


-X^^=*ztS=-l 


vo-ce    ma 


gna      a     -     it :  In     ma  -  nustu      -    as,    Do-nii- 


^}i-- 


fioco  rit. 


w^m^^ 


^^ii 


^ 


vo-ce    ma 


gna        a       -      it:  In  ma  -  nus     tu   -   as,     Do -mi  -  iie.com- 


com  -  men     -  do  spi 


men      -       do        spi      -        -    ri  -  tum  me    - 


122  Familiar  Talks  on  the  History  of  Music 


Soprano  and  Alto 


-^=^-mm^mi^^m^mmwf'^ 


Et      in-cli-na-to    ca    •-      pi  -  te,  e- mi -sit    spi  -  ri  -  turn. 

Tenor  and  Bass 


lg=E=F^^?^ 


A  few  words  about  this  great  man  should  not  prove  amiss. 
His  name  was  Giovanni  Pierluigi  Sante,  and  he  was  born  in 
15 14  in  the  Httle  town  of  Palestrina,  near  Rome,  where  he 
received  his  early  instruction.  Returning  to  his  birthplace, 
he  served  as  organist  in  the  largest  church  in  that  little 
town.  In  1 55 1  he  obtained  a  position  as  teacher  of  choir- 
boys at  St.  Peter's  Cathedral,  and  in  1554  was  admitted  as  a 
singer  to  the  Papal  Chapel.  But  he  fell  in  love,  married,  and 
was  dismissed  from  his  position  in  the  church.  After  he 
wrote  the  Missa  Papae  Marcelli,  and  that  had  made  him 
famous,  the  Church  could  not  afford  to  let  him  be  "out" 
even  if  he  was  married;  so  a  position  was  made  for  him  and 
he  was  called  Composer  to  the  Papal  Chapel,  a  distinction  that 
has  been  conferred  upon  only  one  other  composer.  At  his 
death  in  1594  he  received  the  last  sacrament  at  the  hands  of 
Filippo  Neri,  his  musical  colleague  and  admirer,  of  whom 
more  later.  Upon  his  remains  was  conferred  the  unusual 
honor  of  being  placed  in  St.  Peter's,  where  upon  his  tomb- 
stone may  be  read  the  words,  "Princeps  Musicae"  —  the 
Prince  of  Music. 

He  founded  his  style,  then,  upon  that  of  his  predecessors 
and  teachers,  on  the  Gregorian  chant  in  its  truest  meaning, 
its  original  idea  of  individual  expression;  and,  as  such,  it 
was  the  source  of  his  inspiration.  No  master  studied  it  as 
he  did,  nor  has  any  one  used  it  with  more  variety  and  artistic 
success.  In  spite  of  musical  progress  in  other  directions,  in 
spite  of   the  musical   current   that   demanded   personal  ex- 


The  Golden  Age  of  Catholic  Church  Music  123 

pression,  he  remained  true  to  the  music  of  the  church  and 
walked  the  streets  of  Rome  obUvious  to  the  life  around  him. 
Like  Willaert  and  his  disciples,  he  sought  for  color,  for  his 
beautiful  harmonies  are  not  accidental,  but  he  would  not 
alter  his  style  to  obtain  them.  He  remained  under  the  in- 
fluence of  the  strict  polyphonic  school,  but  was  responsible 
for  the  succeeding  purity  of  that  style  in  the  music  of  the 
Catholic  Church. 

The  music-school  founded  by  Palestrina  at  Rome  perpet- 
uated his  manner  of  writing  a  cappella,  and  several  excellent 
masters  were  trained  there,  among  whom  must  be  men- 
tioned Nanini  and  one  of  his  pupils,  Allegri,  whose  Miserere 
is  still  performed  in  the  Sistine  Chapel  on  Ash- Wednesday, 
and  ranks  with  Palestrina's  Stahat  Mater.  The  improvement 
in  style  for  which  Palestrina  was  noted  was  equalled  if  not  ex- 
celled by  one  contemporary  composer  who  died  in  the  same 
year.  This  was  the  celebrated  Netherlander  Orlandus  Lassus, 
most  of  whose  creative  life  was  spent  in  Bavaria  and  whom 
we  have  mentioned  before.  For  comparison  with  the  excerpt 
from  Palestrina  (Ex.  49)  we  submit  an  Adoramus  te,  Christe 
by  Lassus  (Ex.  50).  Both  compositions  are  fine  miniature 
examples  of  the  style  of  these  two  great  masters,  which  was 
the  direct  fruit  of  the  earnest  and  zealous  work  of  the 
Netherlandish  school,  although  each  master  shows  his  in- 
dividuality in  his  work. 

50.  ADORAMUS    TE. 

Orlandus  Lassus 

Ad        -         o      -     ra     -     mus      te,  .  .     Chri      •         ----- 


Basses 

/ 


Chri 


124  Familiar  Talks  on  the  History  of  Music 


ste,       et  be  -  ne  -  di 


bi, 


: L^- ^    \         gj    L^-i r-^=r' 


ste,     et  be     -    ne     -     di    -  ci-mus  . 

ste,  et  .    .       be  -  ne  -  di      -        ci  -  mus 


bi, 
-     bi,   .  . 


I  r  1/         r         u  1^=^ ■'  L  ^  ^ 


ste,       et 


V      '       V 

be  -  ne  -  di  -  ci  -  mus 


bi, 


P 


tECZp^ 


per    tu  -  am  san 

* — — ' — # l-i 


t^^t=i= 


'M^^kd^^ 


qui   -    a  . 

.     .     qui  -  a 


per  tu  -  am  san    -    ctam,         per      tu  -  am  san 

per  tu  -  am'san-ctam    cru      -        -      cem,  per     tu 


m 


n   I 


^=^i:=,^=^ 


^E=£ 


-^t^ 


-ST"  I r 


per  tu  -  am  san-ctam     cru 


cem,  per 


cem    re  -  de  -  mi    - 


sti     mun  - 


,11,     I  r*»  d^ M      M     I       J         I  !         1^    ^W     '         I  \^  ],^— 


ctam,      per  tu  -  am  san  -  ctam  cru      -    cem  re 

am     san  -  ctam  cru         -        cem   re       -        de  -  mi 


de  -  mi -sti 


^=9^ 


m 


.1     I     I 

^ • !=^ 


sti  mun 

ritenuto 


tu    -    am      »an  -  ctam  cru 


de 


dum.  Do  -  mi  -  ne, 


mi     -      se  -  re 


J-J— ^— J X^ ^ .^\9- «-r-,W T^^ n 


mun     -     dum.  Do 

-        -        -     dum.  Do 


mi-ne,  mi-se-re     -     re    .     .     .  no - 

mi-ne,  mi   -   se -re  -  re        no  -        -        . 


-I  *_;(«-£, 


N  J       1 


dum. 


mi-ne,  mi  -  se-re 


The  Golden  Age  of  Catholic  Church  Music  12- 

bis,    mi-  se  -  re      -      re    no       -        -        -      bis,  mi      -        se  -  re -re     no  -  bis. 


iJr-^^'\  ^"=1—;    :  '-^1  -- — r tp r 


bis,  mi  -  se  -  re     -     re  .  .  no         -  bis.mi    -    se  -  re    -    re        no  -  bis. 

bis,  mi    -    se-re  -  re  no       -        -        -       bis,  mi      -       se  -  re  -  re    no  -  bis. 

I  J  .      J"  J     J        I- ^  I  I         /  J  I         I       [    ""i 


-^WT^Z 


^*=g 


i^ 


^^— I — >-^r^^ — a  J — I- — '  =  r  r^ 

bis,    mi  -  se   -  re    -      re    no      -        -        -      bis,  mi   -    se  -  re  -  re   no  -bis. 

That  he  had  a  more  universal  mind  than  the  gifted  ItaHan 
composer  is  generally  conceded;  for  while  Palestrina  wrote 
only  for  the  Church,  Lassus  also  wrote  a  great  amount  of 
secular  music.  Some  of  his  madrigals,  such  as  "Matona, 
lovely  maiden,"  are  still  sung  by  ambitious  choral  bodies.  He 
also  clung  to  the  church  modes,  of  which  he  was  a  great  master. 

If  Palestrina  may  be  likened  to  Raphael,  Lassus  may  well 
be  likened  to  Michael  Angelo,  for  he  was  a  cosmopolitan 
composer  like  Handel ;  as  this  great  German  composer  united 
in  himself  the  genius  of  German  and  English  art,  so  Lassus 
combined  the  Italian  and  Netherlandish  arts,  influenced  and 
colored  by  the  genuinely  deep,  human  emotion  of  the  German 
character.  His  epitaph  is  a  clever  one :  "Lassus,  Lassum  qui 
recreat  orbem"  or,  in  a  free  translation,  "Here  rests  the  weary 
one  who  refreshed  the  weary  of  the  world." 

With  these  two  great  lights  closes  the  Golden  Age  of  purely 
sacred  Catholic  church  music. 


CHAPTER   IX. 

THE  BIRTH  OF  OPERA  AND   ORATORIO. 

During  the  Middle  Ages,  individual,  social,  political  and 
psychological  rights  were  not  recognized,  but  all  was  gov- 
erned and  controlled  by  either  State  or  Church;  consequently 
choral  music,  collective  utterance,  was  the  fitting  medium  for 
expressing  the  artistic  tendency  of  the  times.  All  kinds  of 
secular  songs  —  the  glee  of  the  EngHsh,  the  madrigal  of  Italy 
and  Germany,  the  songs  of  the  social  circle  and  the  court  — 
were  written  in  three,  four  or  five  parts  and  in  the  (to  us) 
quaint,  but  religiously  impressive,  church  modes.  The  im- 
portance of  inner,  personal  expression,  for  which  opportunity 
is  given  in  a  solo,  not  being  generally  felt  (although  the  Roman 
Church  had  its  solo  chant,  and  the  Protestant  Church  its 
chorale),  the  ensemble-form  of  song  was  the  usual  one,  until 
the  three  great  factors  which  together  caused  the  Renais- 
sance brought  about  greater  freedom  in  both  the  political  and 
the  social  life  of  the  people.  As  man  became  recognized  as  an 
individual,  and  not  simply  as  a  part  of  an  organic  whole, 
he  began  to  crave  individual  expression  in  art.  Music,  the 
adopted  child  of  the  Church,  borrowed  its  forms  from  that 
body,  and  was  even  used  by  the  far-seeing  fathers  of  the 
Church  in  connection  with  the  drama  to  impress  her  semi- 
barbaric  converts,  and  to  strengthen  her  hold  upon  the  regu- 
lar communicants. 

]Many  converts  of  the  Church  in  the  early  Christian  era 
were  descended  from  the  Greeks  and  Romans,  and  thus  in- 
herited a  pronounced  taste  for  theatrical  display  and  repre- 
sentation, their  plays  being  founded  almost  entirely  upon 
their  mythology. 


The  Birth  of  Opera  and  Oratorio  127 

The  Church,  recognizing  the  natural  demand  of  the  people 
for  dramatic  expression,  attempted  to  satisfy  it  and  to  show 
at  the  same  time  her  superiority.  She  wished  above  every- 
thing to  attract  the  attention  of  the  world  to  the  new  religion. 
Sacred  plays  were  therefore  used  so  that  the  mind  might  be 
reached  through  the  senses.  It  was  the  intention  of  the 
Church  that  the  unconverted  should  find  in  her  everything  to 
which  they  had  been  accustomed,  but  should  find  it  more 
beautiful  and  more  refined  than  in  any  of  the  old  religions. 
She  therefore  adopted  many  a  barbaric  custom,  such  as 
brilliant  coloring,  decorations,  magnificent  altar  robes,  etc. 
Theatrical  representations  of  the  acts  of  Christ  and  the  Apos- 
tles were  also  given,  and  variously  termed  "moralities,"  "mys- 
teries," or  "  miracle-plays." 

It  is  not  strange  that  the  Church  should  thus  try  to  im- 
press the  masses,  for  the  native  dramatic  instinct  of  mankind 
had  always  been  associated  with,  and  found  expression  in,  re- 
Ugious  worship.  The  fact  was  recognized  that  sensuous  per- 
ception made  a  deeper  impression  on  the  new  converts  than 
mere  words,  mere  sermonizing;  and  the  gospel  was  therefore 
acted. 

The  clergy,  being  the  guides  of  their  congregations  both  in 
spiritual  and  social  matters,  and  striving  after  leadership  in 
politics  as  well,  desired  that  even  the  amusements  of  the 
people  should  be  under  church  supervision;  they  arranged 
spiritual  plays  which  were  given  for  public  instruction  and 
edification,  and  for  religious  purposes,  on  stages  erected  in 
the  church  edifices.  Priests  in  appropriate  costumes  imper- 
sonated God  the  Father,  Christ,  the  apostles,  the  angels,  as 
well  as  the  female  characters  of  ]Mary  ^Magdalen,  etc..  no 
women  being  allowed  to  take  part. 

The  singing  at  these  performances  was  similar  to  that  of 
the  Church.  Sometimes  choruses  were  used;  for  instance, 
in  the  musical  portions  of  the  Passion,  one  body  of  singers 
represented  the  Jews,  another  the  Sanhedrim  (the  council  of 
the  Jews),  and  still  another  the  Roman  soldiery. 


128  Familiar  Talks  on  the  History  of  Music 

A  performance  of  the  miracle-play  of  "The  Wise  and  Fool- 
ish Virgins"  was  given  in  1322  at  Eisenach  (where  Bach  was 
born  three  and  one-half  centuries  later),  before  the  Elector 
Frederick.  In  the  scene  where  the  foolish  virgins  plead  in 
vain  for  admission  and  for  the  intercession  of  the  Virgin  with 
her  Son,  the  Elector  became  so  excited  that,  at  the  words  of 
Christ,  "Nay,  Mother,  this  may  not  be!"  he  cried  out,  "What 
is  the  use  of  saints  and  of  pious  works  if  even  the  prayers 
of  the  Virgin  cannot  procure  help  and  forgiveness  ?  "  —  and 
was  so  affected  by  the  performance  that  he  had  a  stroke  of 
apoplexy  from  which  he  died. 

This  shows  how  impressive  these  productions  were  made 
and  how  seriously  they  were  taken. 

High  dignitaries  of  the  Church  sometimes  acted  in  these 
plays,  although  in  smaller  towns,  where  there  were  not  many 
priests  to  take  the  parts,  they  descended  sometimes  to  the 
level  of  a  "Punch  and  Judy"  show,  puppets  being  used,  with^ 
a  priest  behind  the  curtain  making  the  speeches  of  the  differ- 
ent characters. 

In  the  course  of  time  the  clergy,  recognizing  the  fact  that 
the  congregation,  having  acted  in  the  secular  plays  of  the 
guilds,  did  not  enjoy  the  Church  plays  because  they  were 
not  allowed  to  take  part,  permitted  societies  to  be  formed 
whose  members  might  appear  in  them,  just  as  if  we  were  to 
take  the  most  devout  members  from  our  church  congregations 
and  say  to  them,  "Now,  you  may  act  in  these  sacred  plays 
under  the  direction  of  the  minister."  As  a  result  we  find  in 
Paris,  in  the  latter  part  of  the  fourteenth  century,  two  so- 
cieties, the  "Confrerie  de  la  Passion,"  to  whom  the  king 
granted  the  use  of  the  Trinite  theatre,  and  the  "Confrerie  de 
Bazoche"  both  of  which  organizations  were  allowed  to  enact 
the  Passion  of  Christ.  They  had  what  we  should  call  a 
"permit"  or,  as  they  called  it  in  those  days,  a  "patent,"  for 
this  sort  of  performance.  In  Rome  was  another  such  society, 
the   "Compagnia   del    Confalone,"    that   held   forth   in   the 


The  Birth  of  Opera  and  Oratorio  129 

Coliseum.  In  England  we  find  similar  societies,  but  outside 
of  the  Church,  in  the  guilds,  which  were  a  refined  edition  of 
our  modern  trade-unions.  The  dry-goods  people,  or  Drapers' 
Guild,  produced  "The  Creation,"  in  which  Adam  and  Eve 
are  said  to  have  appeared  in  their  original  costumes,  ap- 
parently without  giving  offense;  whereas  the  Water-drawers 
(the  men  who  deHvered  water  at  the  houses)  naturally  pre- 
ferred "The  Deluge,"  a  play  which  contains  some  very 
amusing  incidents,  although  it  had  a  religious  purpose.  In 
it  we  read  that  when  Noah  tried  to  embark  his  family,  his 
wife  refused  to  go  along  because  she  did  not  want  to  leave 
her  friends,  "the  gossips,"  and  go  out  into  the  unknown 
with  just  her  husband  and  children.  She  is  made  to  say, 
"Row  forth  away  where  thou  listeth,  and  get  thee  another 
wife."  Noah,  however,  insists  and  begins  to  threaten  her, 
while  her  friends  invite  her  to  a  "carousal  over  a  pottle  of 
malmsey."  Her  son,  Shem,  then  urges  her  to  go  with  her 
family,  and  finally  forces  her  into  the  ark,  saying,  "Mother, 
in  faith,  in  you  shall,  whether  you  will  or  nay."  And  when 
she  finally  enters  the  ark  she  slaps  Noah's  face. 

Happenings  of  this  kind  were  plentiful  in  these  sacred 
stage-pieces.  One  of  which  we  have  record,  and  which 
was  played  chiefly  in  Provence,  where  so  many  interesting 
artistic  things  originated,  was  called  "The  Feast  of  Asses," 
or  "The  Fool's  Festival."  This  was  held  at  the  Winter 
solstice,  probably  as  a  reminder  of  the  Roman  Saturnalia, 
when  the  slaves  were  masters  for  one  day,  and  the  masters 
slaves. 

The  Church,  wishing  to  control  even  this  kind  of  amuse- 
ment, which  consisted  of  a  "fool"  bishop's  being  chosen,  while 
people  and  clergy,  disguised  as  beasts,  pommeled  each  other 
during  the  frolic,  countenanced  even  this  festival.  In  time 
this  practice  degenerated  into  a  very  low  form,  depending 
somewhat  on  the  size  of  the  town  and  the  opportunities  of 
the  people. 


130  Familiar  Talks  on  the  History  of  Music 

In  one  town  the  Biblical  character  Balaam,  superbly 
dressed,  and  wearing  an  enormous  pair  of  spurs,  rode  on  a 
wooden  donkey,  in  which  a  speaker  was  concealed.  In  an- 
other town  the  donkey  was  dressed  in  a  priest's  robe,  and  was 
led  through  the  streets  into  the  church,  where  a  mock  priest 
at  the  altar  intoned  the  so-called  "ass's  chant." 

51. 


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et    for-tis  -  si-mus,  sar  -  ci-nis   ap  -  tis  -  si- mus  ;        Hez,  sir  A  -  ne,hez! 

For  a  refrain  the  mock  priest  imitated  the  braying  of  the 
long-eared  animal,  to  which  the  congregation,  dancing  around 
the  beast,  responded  antiphonally.  Sometimes  a  young  girl 
holding  a  doll,  representing  the  Virgin  Mary  with  the  Christ- 
Child,  rode  on  a  donkey  which  was  led  through  the  streets. 
The  most  important  character  in  all  these  miracles  or  mystery- 
plays  was  the  Devil,  who  acted  as  the  clown,  and  furnished 
the  humorous  element.  He  was  the  most  abused,  and  con- 
sequently the  most  popular,  of  all  the  characters  represented. 
In  those  days  he  did  not  yet  stand  for  the  evil  principle,  but 
rather  represented  a  fooHsh  fellow  who  was  always  making 
efforts  for  the  acquirement  of  souls,  and  was  continually 
baffled  by  the  Church.  All  these  plays  were,  as  we  see,  but 
allegories,  and  as  the  laity,  the  congregation,  began  to  take 
part  in  them,  they  became  very  popular,  sometimes  lasting 
several  days  and  often,  in  the  larger  cities,  employing  several 
hundred  actors.  Soon  the  churches  became  too  small,  and  a 
stage  was  erected  in  a  field  or  some  wide  street;  but  the 
favorite  place  was  the  cemetery,  presumably  because  its  in- 
habitants could  not  object,  and  did  not  mind  the  disturbance. 
The  stage  was  often  divided  into  three  stories,  the  middle  one 


The  Birth  of  Opera  and  Oratorio  131 

representing  the  earth,  everything  that  happened  on  earth 
being  enacted  there;  the  upper  story  representing  Heaven, 
everything  celestial  being  presented  there;  and  we  can 
imagine  what  was  to  be  seen  down  below.  The  actors 
marched  or  climbed  to  their  places  according  to  their  stations 
in  "Heaven,"  or  on  "Earth,"  or  "down  below,"  and  the 
action  proceeded  quite  often  in  all  three  places  at  the  same 
time,  somewhat  as  in  our  modern  three-ring  circus. 

Because  the  clergy  were  few  and  the  people  were  many, 
jongleurs,  buffoons  and  vagabonds  began  to  take  part  in 
these  sacred  plays,  and  introduced  all  sorts  of  profane  comic 
scenes.  When,  for  instance,  during  the  Passion,  they  enacted 
the  scene  at  the  temple  where  Judas  haggled  about  the 
thirty  pieces  of  silver,  it  was  made  ludicrous  because  the 
ointment-seller  would  bandy  coarse  jokes  with  the  holy 
women  who  came  to  buy  his  wares  on  their  way  to  the 
Saviour's  tomb. 

The  Church,  seeing  that  the  laity  thus  gave  undue  prom- 
inence to  the  worldly  element,  finally  forbade  such  per- 
formances; but  in  Italy  alone  was  this  edict  enforced,  the 
rest  of  Europe  continuing  as  before. 

Among  the  more  pretentious  of  these  mysteries  or  miracle- 
plays  we  note  that  in  1440  there  was  given  at  Rome  "The 
Conversion  of  St.  Paul;"  at  Florence  in  1447  the  story  of 
"Abraham  and  Isaac,"  and  in  1556  the  stories  of  "Cain 
and  Abel,"  "Samson,"  and  "The  Prodigal  Son;"  also  "The 
Spiritual  Comedy  of  the  Soul,"  produced  in  1565.  This  last 
was  a  play  very  much  on  the  order  of  "Every  Woman,"  the 
Soul  being  accompanied  by  Conscience,  its  guardian  angel, 
the  Virtues,  and  some  of  the  Vices.  There  were  about  thirty 
characters  represented,  among  them  Paul,  Saint  Chrysostom, 
an  Announcing- Angel  who  spoke  the  prologue,  God  himself, 
Michael  the  Archangel,  the  human  Soul  with  its  guardian 
angels,  Memory,  Intellect,  Free  Will,  Faith,  Hope,  Charity, 
Reason,  Prudence,  etc.,  and  —  the  Devil;  while  a  chorus  of 


132  Familiar  Talks  on  the  History  of  Music 

angels  sang  Madrigals.  The  musical  numbers  of  these  church 
plays  were  called  ''Laudes  spirituales,"  i.e.,  spiritual  praises. 
This  form  of  sacred  miracle-play,  a  reHc  of  those  times,  may 
still  be  seen  every  ten  years  at  Oberammergau.  It  remained 
for  Filippo  Neri,  the  priest  who  administered  the  last  sacra- 
ment to  Palestrina,  to  elevate  the  Miracle-play  into  the 
Oratorio. 

Every  kind  of  theatrical  performance  being  forbidden  dur- 
ing Lent,  Neri  conceived  the  idea  of  adding  to  his  daily  expla- 
nations of  the  Scriptures  some  choral  music  to  illustrate  them; 
so  he  asked  certain  Italian  composers  to  help  him  by  the  com- 
positions of  these  "laudes  spirituales,"  or  illustrative  cho- 
ruses. In  them  one  voice  would  occasionally  sing  alone,  or 
two  voices  would  have  a  musical  dialogue,  which,  however, 
formed  part  of  a  polyphonic  work. 

When  Palestrina  took  up  this  form  of  church  music,  this 
sacred  play  or  "azzione  sacra"  was  already  called  "oratorio," 
after  the  name  of  the  place  where  the  plays  were  performed, 
the  oratory,  a  room  adjoining  the  church.  The  chorus  work 
was  all  in  the  style  of  the  Netherland  school,  polyphonic. 
The  "  Passion  according  to  Matthew  "  was  thus  enacted  and 
while  its  four-part  choruses  are  free  from  dramatic  inten- 
tion, they  are  really  preparatory  for  the  great  oratorio  cho- 
ruses which  were  to  follow  in  the  days  of  Handel  and  Bach. 
Though  it  was  very  much  expanded  in  later  days,  the  idea  of 
a  sacred  musical  representation,  a  sacred  musical  play,  was 
Neri's. 

While  this  was  going  on  within  the  Church,  the  musical 
world  outside  of  the  Church  had  not  been  idle.  The  spirit  of 
the  Renaissance  fostered  an  admiration  for  everything  handed 
down  from  the  Greeks,  a  desire  for  the  breaking-down  of 
conventionality,  the  establishment  of  individual  thought  and 
individual  expression;  As  the  litterateur,  the  poet,  the  painter, 
the  sculptor,  found  each  day  new  beauties  and  superior  excel- 
lence in  the   thought  and  the  descriptions  of  the  ancients' 


The  Birth  of  Opera  and  Oratorio  133 

works  just  brought  to  light,  musicians  naturally  supposed 
that  ancient  Greek  music  had  been  vastly  superior  to  theirs, 
and  wished  to  imitate  it. 

In  1579  Bianca  Capello,  the  beauty  of  Venice,  was  married 
.to  Francesco,  son  of  the  Grand  Duke  of  Florence,  and  the 
Florentine  elite  of  course  came  to  the  wedding  in  great  num- 
bers. The  music  for  the  occasion,  consisting  of  madrigals  and 
similar  polyphonic  ensembles,  had  been  written  by  Marenzio 
and  Gabrieli,  both  pupils  of  Willaert  (the  founder  of  the 
Venetian  school).  The  Florentines,  now  fully  imbued  with 
the  spirit  of  the  Renaissance,  were  displeased  with  the  inappro- 
priate music  associated  with  the  dramatic  performances  which 
always  occupied  a  prominent  place  in  such  festivities,  and 
when  they  returned  to  their  home-city,  then  the  art-center 
as  well  as  the  literary  center  of  Europ>e,  they  inquired  again 
of  the  learned  professors  as  to  the  nature  of  the  Greek  music 
so  lauded  in  the  classics.  They  felt  that  they  must  find  this 
lost  art  which  would  follow  the  expression  and  meaning  of 
the  words  of  their  poetry,  and  its  manner  of  singing,  which 
they  deemed  must  have  been  different  from  both  the  mystic 
Gregorian  chant,  and  the  ornate  four-  and  five-part  church 
motet  and  madrigal.  Their  inherited  artistic  natures  de- 
manded a  style  more  natural  and  logical  and  of  greater 
harmonic  simplicity,  one  that  would  not  detract  from  the 
dramatic  energy  of  a  text. 

The  record  of  their  struggles  to  reach  this  ideal  is  intensely 
interesting.  A  number  of  these  musical  and  literary  people 
formed  a  club  called  "Camerata,"  in  which  they  discussed  the 
desired  change.  The  leader  of  this  club  was  Count  Giovanni 
Bardi,  a  man  well  known  at  court,  where  he  was  a  leading 
spirit.  Among  the  members,  who  met  at  his  house  every 
week  to  discuss  art  in  all  its  phases,  were  Galilei,  a  young 
amateur,  the  father  of  the  famous  astronomer  Galilei;  Rinuc- 
cini,  a  poet;  Cavaliere,  a  musician;  Strozzi,  another  poet; 
Caccini,  a  quite  well-known  singer;  and  Jacopo  Peri,  another 


134  Familiar  Talks  on  the  History  of  Music 

musician.  Galilei  had  studied  with  a  pupil  of  Willaert's, 
Zarlino,  who,  realizing  that  at  the  end  of  a  composition  the 
ear  demanded  the  third  in  the  final  chord,  without  which  it 
sounded  empty,  conceived  the  idea  of  slightly  reducing  the 
mathematical  ratio  of  the  major  third.  This  was  the  begin- 
ning of  the  equal  temperament  of  the  scale,  which  was  to 
attain  general  acceptation  in  the  days  of  Bach. 

Although  the  drama  with  music,  both  sacred  and  secular, 
existed,  the  music  was  but  incidental  to  the  drama,  and  al- 
ways halted  the  dramatic  action.  The  arts  thus  not  only 
failed  to  assist,  but  actually  interfered  with  each  other. 
The  "Camerata"  reaHzed  that  something  was  the  matter 
with  their  music-dramas,  and  conceived  an  ideal  of  dramatic 
performance  wherein  music  and  action  should  both  be  contin- 
uous. The  creations  of  the  mind  of  Dante,  their  great  poet, 
were,  like  the  songs  of  Homer,  full  of  individual  utterances, 
and  they  concluded  that  these  might  be  paralleled  in  music. 
The  first  results  in  this  musical  direction  were  obtained  by 
Galilei,  who,  not  satisfied  with  publishing  a  pamphlet  in 
which  he  called  the  music  then  in  use  in  the  drama  "fit  only 
for  the  uncultivated  masses,  and  unsuited  to  educated 
people,"  decided  to  prove  his  assertion. 

Being  well  acquainted  w^th  the  scene  in  Dante's  "Inferno" 
where  Count  Ugolino  has  a  long  soliloquy,  he  set  it  to  music 
and  presented  it  at  one  of  the  club's  meetings.  With  an 
instrument  something  like  a  'cello,  a  "viola  da  gamba,"  he 
sang  this  soliloquy  with  an  occasional  tone  from  the  instru- 
ment as  support  —  the  first  distinctive  art-solo  with  an  accom- 
paniment not  poh-phonic,  but  harmonic.  His  subject  was  a 
dreadfully  gruesome  one,  to  be  sure,  but  this  performance 
marked  the  beginning  of  the  art  of  solo-singing  —  the  art  of 
emotional  expression,  in  song,  of  one's  personal  or  individual 
thoughts,  or  of  those  of  others.  He  was  applauded  and 
appreciated  by  his  fellow  club-members,  who  thought  that 
at  last  some  one  had  rediscovered  the  Greek  style  of  music. 


The  Birth  of  Opera  and  Oratorio  135 

After  Galilei  had  written  a  second  piece,  "The  Lamenta- 
tions of  Jeremiah,"  Caccini,  a  popular  singer,  brought  the 
solo  song  before  a  more  public  gathering,  and  stated  that  he 
believed  in  the  new  discovery  because  "counterpoint  was  a 
laceration  of  the  poetry."  He  further  stated  that  it  was  "no 
expression,  but  a  disturbance  in  the  utterance  of  a  thought" 
when,  in  the  five-part  madrigal,  one  voice  would  sing  "I  love 
you,"  while  another  was  singing  "in  the  moonlight."  We 
may  smile  at  this;  but  the  throwing  away  of  old  estabUshed 
ideas  and  proclaiming  a  new  form  of  song  demanded  great 
courage,  and  was  a  very  serious  matter.  In  this  manner 
homophony  was  introduced  into  musical  art. 

Peri,  another  member  of  the  Camerata,  encouraged  by  the 
efforts  of  his  fellow-members,  invented  a  style  of  singing  which 
he  called  the  stilo  parlante,  the  speaking  style  (what  we  now 
call  recitative),  a  style  of  speaking  at  certain  pitches,  the 
tones  being  used  to  give  dramatic  inflection  to  the  text  in 
the  conversational  part  of  the  drama,  and  thus  abandoning 
the  custom  of  stopping  the  music  for  the  sake  of  the  dialogue. 
So  now  they  had  the  lyric  or  solo  song  for  the  monologue,  the 
recitative  for  the  dialogue,  and  the  ensemble,  which  had  long 
existed.  To  put  all  these  together  into  one  work  was  the  next 
feat  attempted,  and  Peri  was  the  first  to  succeed  in  so  doing. 

We  have  seen  that  these  steps  were  due  to  the  influence  of 
the  Renaissance,  and  find  yet  further  evidence  of  this  in  the 
selection  of  the  text  for  the  first  music-drama;  for  Rinuccini. 
the  poet,  wrote  a  dramatic  libretto  on  the  Greek  story  of 
Daphne,  which  Peri  set  to  music.  The  work  was  privately 
performed  in  1597,  and  contains  the  pohphonic  chorus  for 
the  ensemble,  the  arioso  or  melodic  scene,  depicting  personal 
feelings,  for  the  monologues,  and  the  recitative  for  dialogue, 
every  department  of  the  opera  thus  being  present,  though  in 
embryonic  form. 

In  1600,  three  years  later,  at  the  marriage  of  Henry  IV 
of  France  to  iNIaria  de'  Medici,  the  same  two  men  wrote  a 


136  Familiar  Talks  on  the  History  of  Music 

similar  work  founded  on  Greek  mythology,  the  story  of 
Eurydice  and  Orpheus.  In  this  work  Peri  was  assisted  by 
Caccini,  Cavaliere  and  other  members  of  the  Camerata,  who 
all  helped  in  the  hope  of  producing  a  great  music-drama. 
They  did  not  work  for  personal  glory,  for  each  was  ready  to 
sink  his  personality  for  the  benefit  of  Art,  the  credit  for  it 
all  being  given  to  Peri. 

And  now  let  us  examine  the  interesting  preface  of  this 
Euridice,  in  which  the  author  gives  his  reasons  for  doing  cer- 
tain things  in  a  certain  way,  of  saying  certain  things  in  a  cer- 
tain manner.  In  this  preface  he  says  that  he  has  adopted 
recitative  and  continuous  music,  because  the  Greeks  em- 
ployed them.  He  did  not  know  any  more  about  that  than 
we  do,  but  it  shows  the  Renaissance  influence;  —  he  was  try- 
ing to  do  what  he  thought  the  Greeks  had  done.  He  further 
declares  that  he  does  not  mean  to  say  that  his  setting  of  the 
story  is  the  Greek  setting,  or  resembles  it  in  melody,  but  that 
it  is  the  only  one  he  thinks  suited  to  the  story;  that  is, 
he  acknowledges  that  dramatic  requirements  influenced  his 
music. 

Considering  that  this  was  his  first  attempt,  the  melodies 
and  harmonies  in  this  opera  are  very  flowing  and  very  ex- 
pressive of  the  text.  He  uses  no  counterpoint  except  in  one 
chorus,  and  there  only  for  the  dramatic  purpose  of  expressing 
the  effect  produced  by  a  crowd  saying  different  things  at  the 
same  time.  He  calls  his  Euridice  a  "tragedia  per  musica," 
a  tragedy  with  music.  This  work  may  well  be  said  to  usher 
into  life  an  art-species  which  thenceforth  without  interruption 
has  occupied  the  musical  world.  While  it  is  simple,  its  har- 
monies meager  from  our  modern  standpoint,  we  should  not 
underrate  the  merit  of  the  effort.  We  owe  a  tribute  to  the 
artistic  genius  of  these  gentlemen  of  the  Camerata,  who,  as 
the  poet  says,  "Walked  upon  the  clouds  of  their  imagination 
as  upon  paved  roads,  and  in  the  end  attained  the  destination 
which  they  had  set  out  to  reach." 


The  Birth  of  Opera  and  Oratorio 


137 


A  word  about  the  performance.  The  musical  instruments 
used  for  the  accompaniment  of  the  opera  were  placed  be- 
hind the  scenes,  not  in  front  (a  hidden  orchestra),  so  that 
nothing  should  interfere  with  a  view  of  the  stage  or  distract 
attention  from  the  performance.  The  only  musical  portion 
that  resembles  what  we  should  call  a  melody,  and  introduces 
a  scene,  is  called  sinfonia,  and  consists  of  a  few  measures  to 
be  played  by  three  flutes.  The  drama  itself  is  in  three  acts; 
the  same  story  has  been  used  over  and  over  again  by  suc- 
ceeding composers  of  both  serious  and  light  operas.  The 
lament  of  Orpheus  over  the  death  of  his  Eurydice,  which 
follows,  is  a  fair  example  of  the  composer's  work.  In  it  we 
note  a  primitive  attempt  at  a  figured  bass  (harmonic  short- 
hand), proving  that  he  thought  in  chords,  like  Willaert.  We 
note  also  that  the  measures  are  not  all  of  the  same  length, 
showing  that  he  followed  the  rhythm  of  the  text.  What  is 
further  interesting  in  the  work  is  his  orchestra.  It  consisted 
of  one  viohn;  an  instrument  that  was  called  the  gravicem- 
balo,  of  which  we  shall  learn  more  at  another  time;  a  chitar- 
rone  (a  large  guitar,  somewhat  like  that  used  in  modern 
college  mandolin  clubs);  a  double-lyre  (a  small  double- 
stringed  harp);  and  flutes.  This  accompaniment  should 
be  remembered,  because  within  six  years  the  opera-orchestra 
grew  from  these  few  instruments  to  one  large  enough  to  play 
a  Wagnerian  opera. 


52.       Lament  of  Orpheus,  from  Euridice,  Act  I 

Voice 


Peri 


138  Familiar  Talks  on  the  History  of  Music 


f-=i- 


=g^^-f^±=C=^-: 


=ia=a" 


:^q 


7^- 


di    -    ce,  che    so  -  spi  -  rar,    .    .    che  la  -  cri  -  mar  non  pos    -   so 

p=^ j_L. ^-J j-.-=iJq=^ 


T" 


t^- 


_fje^| 


1^^ 


::^- 


^ 


-•^--.5^ 


=|t=j^i 


'^-  :»^g=i=C^^i=^^^E^[J^U_^j:lg ^; 


3^ 


3*d 


Ca-da       -      ve-ro  in-fe  -  li  -  ce  !         O  mio  cor  -  so!  mia  spe-me !    O 


-» ai^i^  -I '  !-l — I — ^_a— ':<>--.---— 


^-J — u^r 


tol-ta?  Oi-me ! 


>< — ^- — ■■' * — 

Do    -  ve  sei  gi        -        ta  ? 


To-sto  ve-drai 


:5:=;^;1==^=*-P*— - 


?z*r*zt:ffi 


I 
I 


-EgJ=#E^ 


-s^ — I — 


:^ I 


^^^^^^F^ 


The  Birth  oj  Opera  and  Oratorio 


139 


When  the  other  members  of  the  Camerata  saw  the  success 
of  Peri's  Euridice,  and  came  to  a  reaHzation  of  the  value  of 
this  newly  invented  species  of  drama,  Cavaliere,  who  was  re- 
ligiously inclined,  applied  the  solo  and  recitative  to  the  church 
drama  with  music,  and  in  the  same  year  produced  the  first 
real  Oratorio,  which  is  called  "The  Soul  and  the  Body."  Its 
music  was  continuous,  like  that  of  the  opera;  and  it  was 
given  and  acted  in  costume  in  the  oratory,  a  custom  which  was 
still  common  at  the  beginning  of  the  nineteenth  century  in 
some  Catholic  countries  during  Lent.  He  used  for  the  musi- 
cal accompaniment  a  double-lyre,  one  gravicembalo,  a  double- 
guitar,  and  two  flutes.  Scoring,  barring  (putting  the  bars  in), 
figured  basses,  which  were  soon  recognized  as  necessary,  all 
are  results  of  the  work  of  these  Florentine  gentlemen. 

Thus  were  produced,  side  by  side,  two  of  the  greatest  musi- 
cal art-forms,  the  Opera  and  the  Oratorio;  the  one  born  of 
the  Renaissance  spirit,  drawing  its  subject-matter  not  from 
life,  but  from  mythology;  the  other  the  fruit  of  a  religious 
conception,  and  of  a  desire  to  spread  the  Gospel. 


CHAPTER   X. 

THE  DEVELOPMENT   OF  ITALIAN   OPERA. 

The  success  of  Peri's  Euridice  in  Italy,  and  later  in  France 
and  Germany,  was  not  so  much  due  to  the  inherent  value  of 
the  work  itself,  as  to  the  general  realization  that  these  newly 
invented  styles  of  musical  utterance  exhibited  a  fitness  for 
dramatic  purposes  far  beyond  that  of  polyphonic  writing. 

It  was  left  for  a  musician  greater  than  Peri  to  erect  on 
this  foundation  a  style  of  music  which,  in  its  combination 
of  constructive  ingenuity,  color,  breadth  of  composition  and 
perfection  of  detail,  was  fit  to  rank  with  the  greatest  works  of 
other  arts  during  the  same  period.  The  name  of  this  artistic 
genius  was  Claudio  Monteverde,  born  in  1568  at  Cremona. 
At  the  time  of  his  birth,  his  native  town  was  already  cele- 
brated for  its  violin-making,  Andrea  Amati  (1520-1611), 
whose  grandson,  Niccolo  Amati  (1596-1684),  was  the  most 
famous  of  this  remarkable  family  of  violin-makers,  having 
already  made  a  reputation  as  a  splendid  artisan.  This  was 
a  very  paying  industry  in  those  days,  because  everybody 
who  pretended  to  be  anybody  in  society  had  in  his  house  a 
chest  of  stringed  instruments  of  different  sizes,  or  at  least  a 
quartet  of  violins,  two  sopranos,  a  tenor  and  a  bass  (viola  da 
gamba).  In  a  catalogue  of  violins  published  in  Italy  in 
1601,  many  kinds  of  such  instruments  are  mentioned;  good 
authorities  consider  that  the  making  of  true  violins  probably 
did  not  begin  much  before  the  year  1550. 

Monteverde  went  as  a  young  man  to  Mantua,  where  he 
entered  the  service  of  the  noble  family  of  the  Gonzagas  as  a 
violinist.     In  this  position  he  had  the  advantage  of  studying 

140 


The  Development  of  Italian  Opera  141 

with  a  sound  contrapuntist,  Ingegneri,  the  cathedral  choir- 
director,  from  whom  he  undoubtedly  acquired  a  knowledge 
of  the  strictly  polyphonic  style.  In  1603  his  teacher  died, 
and  Monteverde  succeeded  him  as  director  of  music  in  the 
ducal  family.  It  must  be  understood  that  in  those  days  a 
musician  could  earn  his  living  only  by  working  either  for  the 
Church  or  in  some  rich  family.  This  continued  to  be  the 
case  for  many  years  afterwards,  even  Haydn  being  at  first 
but  a  sort  of  upper  servant  in  the  house  of  one  of  the  Aus- 
trian princes,  receiving  his  daily  orders  for  music  as  the 
kitchen  chef  did  for  the  dinners.  In  such  positions,  however, 
musicians  had  a  chance  to  try  out  their  ideas,  and  it  was 
while  Haydn  was  in  the  service  of  this  prince  that  he  con- 
ceived and  worked  out  the  form  of  the  Symphony.  The  case 
of  Monteverde  was  similar,  for  while  with  the  Gonzagas  he 
conceived  and  created  his  surprises  for  the  musical  world. 

His  first  opera  was  Ariadne,  the  text  being  supplied  by  the 
poet  Rinuccini,  and  its  first  performance  took  place  in  1607, 
seven  years  after  that  of  Peri's  Eiiridice. 

With  the  exception  of  one  number,  ''The  Lament  of 
Ariadne,"  the  music  of  this  opera  is  lost,  in  spite  of  the  fact 
that  it  was  performed  in  Venice  as  late  as  1637.  This  aria 
is  so  intensely  mournful  that  it  is  said  to  have  brought  tears 
to  the  eyes  of  Monteverde's  audiences. 

53.  ARIADNE'S    LAMENT. 


liHiillP^^S^^^ili^ 


142 


Familiar  Talks  on  the  History  of  Music 


\r(^- 


While  this  aria  consists  of  but  nineteen  measures,  it  con- 
tains several  examples  of  Monteverde's  innovations,  which 
stamp  him  as  a  worthy  follower  of  Willaert  and  Gabrieli, 
first  apostles  of  the  Renaissance  in  music.  These  innovations 
consisted  principally  of  the  use  of  dissonances  unknown  up 
to  that  time,  such  as  (i)  a  dominant  seventh-chord  without 
preparation  —  an  unprepared  dissonance;  (2)  a  secondary 
seventh-chord  without  preparation;  (3)  a  suspension  with- 
out preparation.     Though  these  things  are  technical,  they  are 


The  Development  of  Italian  Opera  143 

mentioned  because  the  free  use  of  discords,  forbidden  by  the 
learned  theorists,  proves  that  Monteverde  had  abandoned 
convention  and  tradition  and  devoted  his  music  to  the  ex- 
pression of  human  feelings  and  passions,  thus  following  the 
teachings  of  the  Renaissance. 

The  most  important  constructive  feature  which  he  in- 
vented in  this  little  aria  was  that  of  the  Da  Capo.  Ex.  53 
shows  that  the  text  began  and  ended  with  the  repeated 
phrase  "Lasciatemi  morire!"  ("Let  me  die,  let  me  die"), 
the  musical  setting  being  identical,  thus  practically  making  a 
real  Da  Capo.  This  D.  C.  germ  of  construction  assumed  in 
later  years  great  proportions.  We  speak  of  Haydn  as  the 
father  of  the  symphony,  but  the  recapitulation  in  the  sym- 
phonic form  of  the  sonata-form  is  the  legitimate  outgrowth 
of  Monteverde's  invention,  who  thus  provided  that  prime 
requisite  of  art-form,  unity. 

In  the  same  year  Monteverde  wrote  another  opera,  Orfeo, 
the  libretto  being  somewhat  altered  from  Peri's  Euridice  by 
its  author,  Rinuccini.  This  opera  has  been  preserved,  and  a 
German  copy  of  it  is  easily  procurable.  The  altered  plot 
conforms  more  to  the  mythological  story  than  that  of  Peri's 
libretto.  We  notice  at  once  a  remarkable  development  of 
the  orchestra,  for,  while  Peri  used  but  five  instruments,  the 
number  used  by  Monteverde  in  Orfeo  seven  years  later  is 
very  large  and  shows  what  this  genius  deemed  necessary  for 
the  musical  expression  of  the  dramatic  text.  His  orchestra 
included  two  gravicemhali,  one  on  each  side  of  the  stage, 
played  from  a  figured  bass  to  supply  harmony;  two  con- 
trabassi  or  double-basses;  three  viole  da  gamba  ('cellos);  ten 
viols  (about  the  size  of  our  violas)  and  two  small  "French" 
violins  (the  violins  of  to-day),  which  were  tuned  a  third 
higher  than  the  other  violins,  together  forming  a  complete 
orchestra  of  seventeen  stringed  instruments.  But  this  is  not 
all;  two  large  harps,  two  chitarroni  (large  guitars  the  size  of 
bass  viols);    two  organi  di  legno  (small  portable  organs),  for 


144  Familiar  Talks  on  the  History  of  Music 

which  we  have  substituted  our  wood-wind  instruments  for 
color;  one  regal  (another  kind  of  portable  organ,  with  a 
single  diapason  or  flute  stop);  a  number  of  brass  instru- 
ments, sufficient  to  balance  the  strings  of  a  modern  orchestra, 
and  almost  equal  to  the  requirements  of  the  most  dramatic 
composer  of  the  nineteenth  century,  consisting  of  four  trom- 
bones, two  cornetti  (small  trumpets),  one  clarino  (soprano 
trumpet),  and  three  muted  trumpets,  besides  two  flutes 
and  one  piccolo  —  thirty-nine  instruments  in  all.  This 
development,  coming  within  seven  years,  proves  how  well 
prepared  were  both  musicians  and  the  musical  art  for  the 
message  of  the  Renaissance. 

A  brief  description  of  this  opera  should  not  come  amiss. 
It  commences  with  a  Prelude,  called  "Toccata,"  having 
throughout  a  double  pedal-point,  of  which  we  will  speak 
again.  This  was  to  be  performed  three  times,  and  served  as 
an  overture  to  put  the  audience  in  a  proper  mood.  When 
the  curtain  rose,  an  orchestral  prelude  called  a  ritornello  was 
played.  The  prologue  was  given  by  a  singer,  who  imperson- 
ated one  of  the  Muses,  in  verses  that  were  separated  by 
ritornelli,  during  which  there  was  dancing  or  varied  stage 
business.  The  first  act,  which  commences  with  an  elaborate 
chorus  of  dancing  shepherds  and  shepherdesses,  deals  with 
the  love  of  Orpheus  and  Eurydice,  and  contains  a  solo  by 
Orpheus,  "Rosa  del  ciel,"  which  is  quoted  in  Grove's 
dictionary  in  the  article  on  Monteverde.  The  whole  act 
represents  essentially  the  realization  of  the  happiness  of  exist- 
ence, thoroughly  human,  and  therefore  appropriate  to  Re- 
naissance thought.  In  the  second  act  there  are  two  arias 
with  a  D.  C,  a  duet  for  two  tenors  (the  first  known  in- 
stance of  such  a  duet),  and  in  the  middle  of  this  duet,  as  an 
interlude  or  echo,  a  duet  for  two  flutes  (behind  the  scenes), 
something  which  must  have  taken-  the  audience  rather  by 
surprise.  In  the  course  of  this  act  Orpheus  receives  the 
announcement  of  the  death  of  his  wife  Eurydice.      (Ex.  54.) 


The  Development  of  Italian  Opera 


145 


54. 


Messenger 


Orfeo 


3t^=?^B^^^ 


it 


=fe"-     ^*- 


Thy  be  -  lov-  ed   Eu  -  ri  -  di    -    ce —    Go    on       and  tell    me  ! 


f  d?S?  (  Probably  1 
:^  (    a  pause   | 


Messenger 

— _*- — ^s — _m. 


Orf^o 


-^1^ 


Elt 


^ 


1S?EEE^I 


^. 


::«= 


Thy  faith-ful  wife     be  -  lov  -  ed  is      no      more.      Woe's  me ! 


^- 


^ 


--9=^ 


EE 


i~ 


He  is  silent  for  some  time,  then  breaks  forth  into  a  "lament," 
a  cry  of  sorrow,  whose  accompaniment  consists  of  a  double- 
bass,  a  Httle  portable  organ,  and  a  large  guitar,  a  distinct 
accompaniment  for  a  distinct  voice  and  character.  The 
beginning  and  ending  of  this  "lament"  are  particularly 
fine,  and  it  is  full  of  harmonic  innovations,  one  of  which  is 
an  augmented  chord  of  the  sixth,  a  dissonance  practically 
unknown  until  then. 


55. 


LAMENT   OF   ORPHEUS. 


146  Familiar  Talks  on  the  History  of  Music 


Dead,and  I     still  live.     My  heart  is  beat  -  ing,  From 


|S=S=IjS=S=t=lil==l5Z=flI 


«*=*=st=*I 


*         *       gzz^ 


earth  she  has  departed, 


has  departed  from  me  for  ev  -  er, 


=«* 


^^^m 


r^r 


!^ 


1 


ffl 


P 


"^^i^ 


H*==^ 


i 


ifclEi 


-^^ K^-i ^ ^ ^ ^ *• ¥» -' \ ^— ! 

nev-er         to    re-turn.  And  shall  I      re -main  here  ?  No  !    No! 

I g ^ 


^=i= 


T^ 


l^^=^^E 


m 


TT-rgy 


0     "^                            ^           ' 

— ^- 

1^ 

— -Nr- 

^ ' — 

1 , 

-wi— 

=1*-:= 

» 

— ^*  • 

— ^— 

.     .           If         I     thought 

my 

vers  - 

as 

had 

the    pow 

er, 

fe|—          *-       -^^^= 

■" 

';^^ 

«> — 



S^r      -^    -€_ 



^^ 

■^ 

1^: 

fc9 



— jj — 

d — 

_ 

The  Development  of  Italian  Opera 


147 


I  would  des-cend  .  .  in- to  th'  abode  of  dark-ness,     Plead       to  melt  the 


^^ 


5) j^ 1 _ W. , 


r=qt=(5==5=-sc: 


heart    of  Hades'  monarch      to  let  thee  come  back    to  see  once  more  the 


SE?^ 


^^-^ 


l^ 


:i:=t 


=sf^-p=^ 


r-^ — ^= — 3 N f* ^— 

_S n^i 

1 — 1 

^ — 

f 1 

m-^ F=i=*_=at_ii^ 

— * — »-l 

y=^=^ 

— f— 

•• S" 

«) 

IT 

star  -  light.       Or     if  that 

^1           1 

is   de  -  nied  me 

,,11 

by 

his     e    - 

diet, 

TO    'n        ^^    ng" 

— f=*"J-=i^ 

s — 

1  -^y — ^ — v^ — ag 

^-*=? 

c 

1  s? — ** ^^^ — ~ 

T^ 



\-^ 

:»=(s= 


P 


to     re  -  main  with  thee,      to    help  thee  face  the     spir    -     its. 

4- 


148  Familiar  Talks  on  the  History  of  Music 


Farewell.O   earth!     Farewell,0  skies!      O  sun-light,  fare  -  well !  . 

-\- 


The  act  concludes  with  a  chorus,  followed  by  an  or- 
chestral interlude  which  lasted  from  the  close  of  this  act 
until  the  curtain  went  up  on  the  next,  making  an  abso- 
lutely continuous  performance.  This  interlude  is  dramatically 
important  in  its  foreshadowing  of  the  descent  of  Orpheus 
into  Hades  in  search  of  his  Eurydice;  a  point  which,  in 
the  drama,  is  reached  only  at  the  end  of  the  third  act. 
Only  the  keenest  dramatic  feeling  could  have  caused  this 
arrangement,  this  musical  pseudo-prophecy,  which  is  again 
repeated  during  the  passage  with  Charon  across  the  Styx 
and  at  the  close  of  the  act.  Its  conception  is  suggestive 
of  the  "journey  of  Parsifal  to  the  castle  of  the  Holy  Grail," 
in  that  there  is  continuous  music  during  the  passage  from 
one  place  to  the  other.  Monteverde  may  well  be  called  the 
Wagner  of  the  seventeenth  century,  for  the  repetition  of  this 
orchestral  interlude  at  different  portions  of  the  Journey  to 
Hades  had  in  it  all  the  elements  of  what  we  call  the  Leitmo- 
tiv (leading-motive).  The  scene  of  Act  IV  is  laid  in  Hades. 
After  long  pleading,  Eurydice  is  finally  permitted  to  follow 
Orpheus  provided  he  does  not  look  back  at  her.  In  the 
scene  where  they  appear  on  the  stage,  the  composer  has 
assigned  to  Orpheus  a  melody  quite  modern  in  style,  which 
we  cannot  refrain  from  quoting  in  comparison  with  that  of 
his  first  opera,  because  it  shows  a  departure  from  the  speak- 
ing or  declaiming  style  (stilo  parlante),  and  Orpheus  really 
sings  —  one  of  the  conditions  upon  whose  fulfillment  Eurydice's 
departure  depended.  Following  is  one  of  its  three  stanzas, 
which  were  separated  by  interludes  for  the  vioHns. 


The  Development  of  Italian  Opera 


149 


56. 


ORPHEUS'   SONG. 


MONTEVERDE 


-r5i 


shall  be, Where  to  .  .  your  mu  -  sic         the  stars  will  go     danc 


m 


ing,       -will  go       danc 


ing: 


i3^ 


-■=!^z 


--tmz 


te^ 


m 


$ 


150  Familiar  Talks  on  the  History  of  Music 

Then  a  doubt  disturbs  Orpheus'  mind.  Is  Eurydice  fol- 
lowing him,  or  is  he  being  fooled  by  the  imps  of  Hades  ?  He 
hears  dreadful  sounds  behind  him;  he  fears  he  has  been  de- 
ceived; he  turns,  sees  Eurydice;  she  fades  from  sight,  and 
he  hears  the  condemnation:  "Thou  hast  broken  the  con- 
ditions and  art  unworthy  of  favor,"  sung  by  the  bass  voice 
(the  first  bass  we  know  of  in  an  opera)  of  an  unseen  singer. 

In  the  fifth  act,  Orpheus  is  bewailing  his  grief  to  the  rocks  and 
the  trees,  and  the  composer  introduces  echoes  to  this  lament, 
as  Gluck  did  nearly  two  hundred  years  later.  Apollo  then 
descends,  and  carries  Orpheus  to  the  skies,  where  he  will  see 
his  Eurydice  among  the  stars.  The  opera  concludes  with  a 
dance,  "Moresco,"  which  is  described  in  Grove's  dictionary. 

These  are  a  few  of  the  marvelous  innovations  in  music 
which  marked  the  years  immediately  following  the  birth  of 
opera;  from  them  the  high  musical  and  dramatic  ideals  of 
the  early  ItaHan  composers  may  be  partially  realized. 

In  1 6 13  Monteverde  obtained  the  position  of  music- 
director  at  the  church  of  San  Marco  in  Venice,  with  a  much 
higher  salary  than  any  of  his  predecessors,  which  shows  that 
he  must  have  been  held  in  high  esteem  by  his  contemporaries, 
and  that  the  new  style  of  music  had  taken  deep  root,  for 
Monteverde  was  incapable  of  writing  music  in  the  style  of 
Palestrina.  His  first  years  in  Venice  were  devoted  to  re- 
forms of  music  for  the  Church,  and  his  first  opera,  Ariadne, 
reappeared  as  an  oratorio,  under  the  name  of  "The  Lament 
of  the  Virgin." 

We  have  nothing  operatic  from  his  pen  until  1624,  when 
he  wrote  Tancred  and  Clorinda.  Here  he  introduces  two  new 
efifects  for  the  violin,  the  pizzicato,  in  imitation  of  the  clashing 
of  swords,  and  the  tremolo  for  all  the  strings;  both  used  in 
the  exciting  scene  where  Tancred  meets  Clorinda  (his  dis- 
guised beloved)  in  mortal  combat. 

Shortly  after  the  appearance  of  this  opera,  progress  in  art 
was   checked  by   the   Black  Plague,   which   again   ravaged 


The  Development  of  Italian  Opera  151 

Europe  and  which  probably  induced  Monteverde  to  take 
holy  orders  and  retire  to  a  monastery.  In  entering  the 
church,  however,  he  did  not  lose  his  artist-nature,  for  through 
his  influence  there  was  opened  in  Venice,  in  1637,  a  theater 
where  opera  could  be  given  for  the  common  people  who  had 
hitherto  been  deprived  of  this  pleasure.  He  then  took  up 
the  pen  again  and  wrote  four  more  operas. 

Monteverde  died  in  1643  at  the  age  of  seventy-five,  having 
played  a  most  important  part  in  one  of  the  greatest  revo- 
lutions which  have  ever  taken  place  in  any  art.  He  strove  to 
make  the  music  illustrative  of  the  text  by  means  of  rhythmic, 
melodic  and  harmonic  devices,  as  well  as  by  means  of  original 
orchestral  effects,  such  as  neither  his  predecessors  nor  his 
contemporaries  had  conceived,  and  which  astonished  even 
the  musicians  of  his  orchestra.  Every  new  harmonic  com- 
bination invented  by  him  was  used  with  unerring  judg- 
ment as  to  its  aesthetic  significance.  His  Orfeo  makes  us 
question  the  originahty  of  what  are  supposed  to  be  really 
modern  conceptions,  such  as  the  employment  of  certain  in- 
struments to  support  the  voices  of  certain  dramatic  char- 
acters, and  the  constant  use  of  the  declamatory  style,  as  later 
employed  by  Wagner,  in  preference  to  the  true  recitative  or 
true  melody. 

A  word  now  about  the  instrumental  prelude  of  that  opera, 
the  Toccata.  Based  from  beginning  to  end  upon  a  double 
organ-point,  what  shall  we  say  of  it?  It  is  absolutely 
identical  in  construction  with  the  introduction  to  Wagner's 
Rheingold,  although  the  two  compositions  are,  of  course, 
totally  unlike  in  feeling  and  intention. 

The  direct  successor  of  Monteverde  was  Francesco  CavaUi. 
who,  having  grown  up  under  his  tutelage,  had  during  his 
teacher's  lifetime  obtained  the  position  of  second  organist  at 
the  church  of  San  Marco,  and  at  the  age  of  forty  produced 
his  first  opera.  That  form  of  entertainment  had  now  become 
so  popular  that  a  new  theatre  was  opened  in  Italy  almost 


152 


Familiar  Talks  on  the  History  of  "Music 


every  alternate  year,  and  in  less  than  one  century  (the  seven- 
teenth) six  hundred  and  fifty-eight  operas  were  produced  in 
Venice  alone,  chiefly  by  native  or  resident  poets  and  com- 
posers. 

At  the  age  of  fifty,  Cavalli  produced  his  greatest  work, 
Jason,  which  was  the  first  opera  performed  in  Rome,  in  167 1. 
In  the  score  of  this  opera  we  notice  that  the  clefs  are  fixed,  in- 
dicating that  the  orchestra  had  then  assumed  a  defini-te  form. 
As  a  relic  of  the  highest  form  of  part-writing  in  polyphonic 
style  for  five  voices,  the  violins  were  divided  so  that  the 
strings  consisted  of  first  and  second  violins,  first  and  second 
violas,  and  basses.  We  note  also  that  in  the  less  dramatic 
portions  of  the  work  some  very  florid  passages  are  given  to 
the  voices,  evidently  for  the  display  of  "vocalization,"  an 
art  then  growing  very  rapidly. 


57. 


From  Jason 


Cavalli 


56^^ 


--tz 


E3EEd^j=B=^^ 


m 


And  then       up  -  on  my  car    gor-geous  and  glitt'ring  the  sun's  rays  will 


11 


I|__C2^ 


shine 


mi 


in      bril-liant    splen-dor.  and  then  in  their  descend- 


l^^g 


±iEr_vT:^ 


The  Development  of  Italian  Opera  153 

ing     they  will       il    -    lu    -         -         -         -     mi-nate    and    glo  -    ri 


i=^a^ 


The  term  "opera"  was  first  applied  to  the  works  of  Cavalli, 
all  previous  works  of  that  character  being  called  music- 
dramas,  Hke  Wagner's.  The  musica  parlante,  or  recitative, 
of  the  early  days  was  gradually  transformed  into  another  kind 
of  recitative,  the  stromentato,  which  was  not  so  eloquent,  but 
had  a  more  continuous  accompaniment,  while  the  aria  became 
full  of  ornamentation  {coloratura). 

The  appearance  of  the  Aria  as  a  musical  form  of  beauty 
for  beauty's  sake,  is  an  indication  that  Renaissance  influence 
was  waning.  What  had  happened  to  painting  was  going  to 
happen  to  music,  for  the  love  of  the  beautiful  was  growing, 
and  growing  so  fast  that  it  finally  became  the  essential  thing; 
and  the  principle  of  reaUsm,  "truth  to  nature,"  the  genuinely 
dramatic  expression,  which  was  the  maxim  of  the  early  Re- 
naissance, was  to  be  lost  in  admiration  for  the  beauty  of  the 
setting,  until  finally  words  were  again  wedded  to  music  as 
poorly  fitted  to  ex-press  their  meaning  as  the  popular  songs 
which  had  been  made  to  accompany  the  text  of  the  Mass. 

Until  the  beginning  of  the  nineteenth  century,  Cavalli  was 
the  sole  Italian  composer  to  follow  firmly  in  the  footsteps  of 
]\Ionteverde.  Even  before  his  death  a  musician  had  sprung 
up  who  had  made  himself  felt  in  the  domain  of  church  music, 
and  that  was  Carissimi  (1604-1674).     He  introduced  the  idea 


154  Familiar  Talks  on  the  History  of  Music 

of  beauty  for  beauty's  sake,  though  he  may  still  be  classed  in 
the  Renaissance  period.  Among  his  best  pupils  were  Ales- 
sandro  Scarlatti  and  Cesti,  whose  arias  much  more  resemble 
those  by  Handel  of  sixty  years  later,  than  those  by  Monte- 
verde  of  thirty  years  before. 

The  Renaissance  composers  had  endeavored  to  denote  what 
a  person  would  have  sung  in  a  particular  situation  if  it  had 
been  the  habit  of  people  to  express  themselves  in  song  in- 
stead of  speech.  This,  as  we  know,  was  Wagner's  idea,  and 
is,  of  course,  the  true  spirit  of  the  music-drama.  The  idea  of 
Carissimi  and  his  followers  was,  that  music  should  first  of  all 
be  pleasing;  so  he  insists  on  beauty  of  outline  and  phrase  in 
the  music  of  each  of  his  dramatic  characters.  His  music  is, 
therefore,  far  more  pleasing  and  beautiful  than  Monteverde's, 
but,  on  the  other  hand,  Monteverde  more  nearly  reached  a 
realization  of  dramatic  truth. 

As  an  example  of  such  departure  from  the  truthful  musical 
expressions,  we  might  cite  an  instance  from  the  oratorio  of 
Jephthah,  where  the  daughter,  lamenting  her  fate,  sings  an 
aria,  each  of  whose  phrases  closes  with  a  short,  florid  pas- 
sage echoed  by  tivo  flutes  in  thirds.  Thinking  that  a  single 
echo  would  be  bald,  Carissimi  sacrificed  truth  to  a  desire  to 
please,  something  quite  different  from  Monteverde,  whose 
echo  was  a  more  real  one. 

The  conceptions  of  Monteverde  and  Cavalli  caused  a  vast 
improvement  in  the  violin,  and  made  that  instrument  change 
its  position  from  that  of  an  humble  helper  to  the  principal 
instrument  in  the  orchestra.  The  beauty  of  its  tone  created 
a  desire  for  similar  vocal  beauty,  and,  as  a  result,  we  find  the 
voice-teacher  abroad  in  the  land  as  early  as  1650. 

Beginning  with  Scarlatti  in  Naples,  there  now  developed  a 
musical  style  which,  in  contradistinction  to  the  suhlinie  style 
of  Palestrina  and  the  dramatic  style  of  ^Monteverde,  might  be 
called  the  style  beautiful.  He  devoted  himself  largely  to  the 
promotion  of  the  opera,  omitting,  however,  much  of  the  dra- 


The  Development  of  Italian  Opera  155 

matic  spirit,  while  increasing  its  beauty,  and  his  compositions 
served  as  models  for  Handel.  His  fertility  in  composition 
was  marvelous.  At  the  age  of  sixty-two  he  had  composed 
1 14  operas,  200  masses  and  hundreds  of  cantatas.  Dr.  Burney, 
the  English  historian,  discovered  a  manuscript  of  Scar- 
latti's containing  35  cantatas  dated  on  successive  days. 
Scarlatti  was  an  excellent  singer  and  teacher,  a  genial  con- 
ductor, and  a  fine  clavicemballist  (or,  as  we  should  term  it, 
pianist),  although  excelled  in  this  by  his  son,  Domenico. 
Even  before  his  death  in  1725,  his  style  had  become  the  model 
for  the  rising  generation,  and  finally,  as  developed  by  his 
pupils  Leonardo  Leo  and  Francesco  Durante,  attained  su- 
premacy throughout  Europe.  Vain  were  the  attempts  of 
dramatic  innovators  to  return  to  the  ideals  of  Monteverde,  for 
even  a  Handel  could  not  change  the  style  and  form  of  "opera" 
as  it  had  been  prescribed  and  ''iron-cladded"  by  Scarlatti. 
His  extremely  graceful  and  melodious  style  culminates  in 
Bellini,  Donizetti,  and  most  of  Rossini's  works.  The  over- 
ture, as  written  by  him,  consists  of  three  movements,  one  fast, 
one  slow,  and  then  another  fast  movement  —  a  sort  of  proph- 
ecy of  the  three  movements  of  the  early  symphony. 

Being  a  voice-teacher,  Scarlatti  wrote  chiefly  for  the  singer, 
a  practice  which  has  always  been  a  stumbling-block  to  every 
combination  of  pure  musical  and  dramatic  art.  He  perfected 
the  form  of  the  aria,  and  made  it  the  important  part  of  the 
lyric  drama,  the  recitative  being  used  merely  as  a  thread  to 
unite  the  several  arias  and  duets. 

His  best  pupil  was  Porpora  (1686-1766),  an  even  greater 
voice-teacher  than  Scarlatti,  for  his  pupils  became  the  great 
singers  of  Europe.  It  was  he  who  gave  Haydn  much  musi- 
cal instruction. 

Gradually,  the  trills,  turns  and  roulades  of  the  arias,  the 
"vocalization,"  became  their  most  attractive  feature,  and  the 
singer  became  the  chief  power  in  the  opera.  The  public  went 
to  hear  the  singer,  not  the  opera;  the  composer,  the  musician, 


156  Familiar  Talks  on  the  History  of  Music 

being  no  more  considered.  As  a  result,  Mozart  and  Schubert 
starved,  and  even  Wagner  felt  the  results  of  this  attitude. 

Intellectual  elevation  was  not  required  of  the  singer,  vocal- 
ization being  considered  all-sufhcient.  During  almost  the 
whole  eighteenth  century,  opera-composers  lived  under  iron 
rules  of  musical  construction.  They  could  not  even  distribute 
the  voices  in  their  opera  as  they  chose.  Six  principal  singers 
was  the  proper  number  for  an  opera  —  no  matter  what  the 
drama  might  demand ;—  three  men  and  three  women,  and 
the  men  were  sopranos,  or  tenors,  although,  if  circumstances 
compelled  the  use  of  a  seventh  person  for  a  small  part  and  a 
fourth  man  was  necessary,  he  might  be  a  baritone  or  bass. 
In  Handel's  Teseo,  for  instance,  all  the  singers  were  either 
sopranos  or  altos.  The  form  and  place  of  each  aria  in  the 
opera  was  absolutely  fixed,  and  the  same  iron  conventionality 
which  had  caused  the  dark  Middle  Ages  descended  upon 
the  operatic  form.  The  society  opera-goers  knew  the  rules 
of  operatic  construction.  Even  if  a  new  opera  was  given, 
they  knew  that  at  about  such  and  such  an  hour  in  the  even- 
ing the  principal  soprano  would  sing  her  great  aria;  so 
they  came  just  in  time  to  hear  that,  and  then  immediately 
departed. 

When  Handel  wrote  an  opera  whose  arrangement  of  arias 
was  different  from  the  rules  prescribed,  he  lost  his  following 
and  his  fortune.  There  were  five  kinds  of  arias;  (i)  the 
cantabile  —  real  singing  to  show  the  range,  tone  and  quality 
of  the  voice;  (2)  the  portamento,  to  show  sustained  breath, 
phrasing,  etc.,  (3)  the  aria  di  mezzo  carattere,  something  mid- 
way between  the  two  previous  ones;  (4)  the  parlante,  in  de- 
clamatory style;  (5)  the  aria  di  bravura,  the  fireworks,  the 
pyrotechnics,  as  in  the  mad  scene  of  Lucia.  Every  scene  in 
the  opera  was  assigned  to  one  singer;  each  singer  had  one 
aria  in  each  act;  no  two  arias  in  succession,  even  by  differ- 
ent singers,  were  to  be  of  the  same  style.  The  Scene  I,  Scene 
II,  Scene  III,  etc.,  in  the  older  Italian  operas  do  not  mean 


The  Development  of  Italian  Opera  157 

that  the  scene  changes,  but  that  each  scene  is  assigned  to  a 
different  singer,  who  is  then  entitled  to  the  "lime-light," 
everybody  else  staying  in  the  background. 

In  the  second  and  third  acts,  each  of  the  principals  had 
one  scene  with  a  bravura  aria  and  took  part  in  a  duo,  but  there 
were  no  trios  or  quartets.  Some  one  has  said  that  it  would 
have  been  impossible  to  have  a  quartet  in  those  days,  for  the 
singer  who  had  the  principal  part  (the  melody  in  the  quartet) 
would  probably  have  been  murdered  (?)  by, the  other  singers. 
The  sublime  and  dramatic  styles  of  church  music  steadily 
retreated  before  the  advance  of  the  public  demand  for  colo- 
ratura singing  and  vocal  display,  a  typical  example  being 
Pergolesi's  "Stabat  Mater,"  which  is  most  sensuously  beauti- 
ful, but  not  religious. 

The  next  prominent  Italian  composer  after  Scarlatti  was 
Piccini,  the  unsuccessful  rival  of  Gluck  in  Paris,  and  who 
seems  to  have  written  the  first  ensemble  numbers  for  the 
principal  singers. 

When,  because  of  the  labors  of  Gluck,  Mozart  and  Weber, 
Italian  opera  seemed  doomed  to  decay,  Rossini  (born  in 
1792)  was  the  magician  who,  by  the  sensuous  charm  of  his 
melody,  again  captured  the  opera-loving  public  and  bound  it 
with  those  brilliant  fetters  which  a  large  portion  of  the 
musical  world  has  hitherto  been  unable  or  unwilling  to  cast 
off.  In  1829  he  himself  made  an  attempt  (his  last)  at  real 
dramatic  writing  with  an  approximation  of  the  earlier  Italian 
form  in  his  William  Tell.  Here  he  abandoned  the  prevalent 
Italian  style  and  forswore  florid  writing,  but,  while  this  work 
is  very  melodious  and  also  very  dramatic,  the  Italians  did 
not  admire  it  until  within  the  last  thirty  years. 

Donizetti  (i 797-1848)  came  next  in  the  same  style,  but 
with  improvements  in  the  ensemble  numbers  over  those  of 
Rossini,  his  greatest  triumph  being  the  sextet  in  Lucia. 
probably  the  most  popular  ensemble  number  in  any  Italian 
opera  of  the  early  nineteenth  century. 


158  Familiar  Talks  on  the  History  of  Music 

Bellini  (1802-1835),  his  contemporary,  next  captured  the 
world  with  La  Sonnambula,  Norma  and  /  Purilani,  all  full  of 
great  arias,  but  without  much  dramatic  power  —  simply 
beautiful  music. 

After  him  came  Verdi,  born  in  18 13,  with  Ernani,  Rigo- 
letto,  La  Traviata,  II  Trovatore,  and  later  Aida,  Otello  and 
Falstajf.  While  his  early  operas  are  in  the  prevalent  Italian 
style,  in  Aida  he  reapproaches  for  the  first  time  the  Monte- 
verde  idea,  and  Falstaf  and  Otello  are  again  cast  in  the  mould 
of  the  first  great  Italian  operas,  although  an  interval  of  more 
than  two  hundred  years  of  melodious  riot  separated  them. 
Otello  is  a  great  masterwork,  and  its  music,  like  that  of 
Falstaf,  is  absolutely  subservient  to  and  interpretative  of 
the  text. 

After  Rossini  came  Boito,  with  his  Mejistofele,  who  partook 
of  the  Wagnerian  spirit  and  wrote  not  only  his  own  librettos 
but  those  of  many  of  the  operas  of  his  countrymen.  That 
the  Italian  composers  since  the  day  of  Verdi  have  returned 
to  the  principle  of  the  Renaissance,  realistic  dramatic  ex- 
pression, is  evidenced  by  the  works  of  Mascagni,  Leoncavallo, 
Puccini  and  other  Italians,  which  belong  to  the  standard 
repertoire  of  Modern  Grand  Opera  companies. 


CHAPTER   XI. 

FRENCH   OPERA  FROM  ITS  BEGINNING. 

In  previous  chapters  we  mentioned  that  numerous  kings 
of  France  were  patrons  of  music,  maintaining  bodies  of 
musicians  at  court,  or  as  attaches  to  their  chapels,  for  the 
purpose  of  securing  dignified  performances  of  church  music; 
Okeghem  being  with  Charles  VII,  and  Josquin  de  Pres  with 
Louis  XII.  Francis  I  and  Henry  II  themselves  aspired  to 
be  composers;  Charles  IX  sang  in  his  own  church  choir,  and 
Marguerite  de  Valois  gave  concerts  at  Issy,  all  proving  that 
the  love  for  music  was  very  common  among  French  sove- 
reigns. 

Although  poHtical  and  religious  struggles  convulsed  France 
during  the  latter  half  of  the  sixteenth  century,  court  amuse- 
ments were  carried  on  with  great  gayety.  The  most  popu- 
lar of  these  were  ballets,  in  which  the  high  nobility  took  part, 
and  which  were  staged  with  great  splendor  and  at  enormous 
expense.  The  queen  and  her  sister,  and  even  the  king,  at 
times  took  part  in  these;  and  in  one  of  the  favorite  ballets, 
published  in  1582,  occurs  the  melody  which  was  so  popular 
in  bygone  days  under  the  name  of  "Air  or  Gavotte  of  Louis 

xm." 

As  a  result  of  Renaissance  influence  Greek  mythology 
furnished  the  subjects  for  most  of  the  ballets;  but  con- 
temporaneous follies,  fads  and  political  episodes  came  in  for 
their  share,  especially  in  the  time  of  Henry  IV  and  Louis 
XHL  gloomy  and  taciturn  though  the  latter  usually  was. 
Louis  XVI  also  loved  to  appear  in  these  ballets.  In  one  of 
them  a  concealed  chorus  of  sixty-four,  accompanied  by 
twenty-eight  stringed  instruments  and  fourteen  lutes,   took 

159 


i6o  Familiar  Talks  on  the  History  of  Music 

part;  while  in  another  a  chorus  of  ninety- two  voices  with 
forty-five  instruments  participated,  each  conductor  having 
written  the  music  for  his  chorus  and  its  accompaniment; 
while  still  another  musician  wrote  the  dance-music. 

The  pastoral  play  had  early  been  in  favor  with  the  French, 
for  Adam  de  la  Halle  composed,  in  the  thirteenth  century,  a 
little  pastoral  play  called  Robin  and  Marian,  noteworthy  for 
the  charm  of  its  songs,  and  written  in  what  we  should  now 
perhaps  call  the  light-opera  style. 

The  dance,  as  a  class  of  dramatic  entertainment,  was  in- 
digenous to  France,  and  the  ballet  is  even  to-day  an  im- 
portant adjunct  of  French  Grand  Opera.  The  early  French 
ballets  resembled  the  English  ''Masques"  in  form  (see 
Milton's  "Comus"),  and  contained  dialogues,  and  vocal  and 
instrumental  music;  thus  they  were,  in  a  way,  the  pre- 
cursors of  French  Opera. 

The  Renaissance  spirit,  having  reached  France,  exercised 
great  influence  in  the  reconstruction  of  French  literature,  and 
the  poet  Malesherbes  (1555-1628)  promptly  established  the 
form  of  French  dramatic  verse  along  the  lines  of  the  Greek 
drama.  When  the  edict  of  Nantes  was  issued  in  1598,  it 
seemed  as  if  art  would  flourish  under  the  reign  of  Henry  IV; 
but  his  career  was  cut  short  by  the  dagger  of  Ravaillac. 

We  mentioned  this  king's  marriage  to  Catherine  de'  Medici, 
which  occurred  at  Florence  in  1600,  and  the  performance  of 
Peri's  Euridice  as  a  part  of  the  wedding  festivities.  By  this 
union  France  became  consolidated  and  comparatively  peace- 
ful, a  condition  favorable  to  artistic  development.  The 
French  ladles  and  gentlemen  who  accompanied  Henry  to 
Florence  were  not  only  entertained  by  the  performance  of 
the  little  music-drama,  but  it  made  a  deep  impression  upon 
many  of  them.  The  seed  thus  sown  did  not,  however, 
"flourish  and  bring  forth  fruit"  until  nearly  fifty  years  later, 
for  the  ballet  continued  the  favorite  form  of  amusement  at 
court.     But  after  the  death  of  Henry  IV,  Cardinal  Mazarin, 


French  Opera  from  its  Beginning  i6i 

fearing  the  capricious  moods  of  Anne  of  Austria,  queen  of 
Louis  XIII,  sent  to  Italy  for  a  company  of  singers  in  the  new- 
art  {le  nuove  musiche),  and  in  1645  there  came  to  Paris  such  a 
company,  which  performed  Peri's  Euridice.  The  musical 
ideas  underlying  this  opera,  and  its  musical  forms  of  uttei'- 
ance,  pleased;  but  a  nation  that  had  learned  to  appreciate 
and  enjoy  such  strong  intellectual  food  as  Corneille's  ''Cid," 
and  the  dramas  of  Moliere,  which  had  so  stimulated  and 
elevated  French  literature,  could  not  feel  satisfied  with  a 
performance  dramatically  so  weak  as  Peri's  Euridice.  It  was 
agreed,  therefore,  that  the  music-drama  must  be  altered,  if 
it  was  ever  to  correspond  to  French  national  art-ideas,  and 
that  it  must  be  sung  in  the  French  language.  But  how  could 
this  be  done?  The  very  form  and  construction  of  the  Alex- 
andrine verse,  in  imitation  of  that  of  the  Greeks,  the  ac- 
cepted form  of  French  dramatic  utterance,  with  its  every 
line  having  the  same  number  of  syllables,  was  considered  by 
musicians  to  be  incapable  of  operatic  adaptation.  Two  or 
three  lines  from  one  of  the  great  French  poems  will  illustrate 
this: 

"Je  chante  ce  heros  qui  regna  sur  la  France 
Et  par  droit  de  conquete,  et  par  droit  de  naissance, 
Qui  par  des  longs  malheurs  apprit  a  gouverner." 

Line  after  line  with  the  same  number  of  syllables,  no  pause, 
no  stopping-place,  none  of  that  variety  which  the  musician 
demands  in  order  to  give  a  poem  a  musical  setting.  But  who 
would  dare  change  the  poetic  mode  of  utterance,  which  be- 
cause of  its  stately  grandeur  was  the  admiration  of  all  ? 

In  the  time  of  the  Netherlanders  and  other  pohphonic 
schools,  poetry  had  often  been  "murdered"  to  suit  poly- 
phonic development;  but  matters  were  now  reversed,  and  it 
was  universally  conceded  that  music  must  be  subservient  to 
text  in  a  music-drama.  A  change  in  the  form  of  French 
poetry  was  therefore  deemed  absolutely  necessary.  Xo  one 
ventured  on  such  a  change  until  Abbe  Perrin,  who  for  vears 


1 62  Familiar  Talks  on  the  History  of  Music 

had  been  master  of  ceremonies  for  Gaston,  Duke  of  Orleans, 
brother  of  Louis  XIII,  made  a  heroic  effort.  Having  a  great 
deal  of  stage  experience  and  possessing  true  dramatic  in- 
stinct, he,  awakening  to  an  appreciation  of  the  duties  of  his 
position,  conceived  the  idea  of  a  new  form  of  poetry,  in  imi- 
tation of  that  of  the  Italians,  and  in  1661  pubHshed  a  volume 
of  verses  in  the  Italian  style.  He  was  immediately  attacked 
by  all  the  poets  and  litterateurs  for  his  heretical  innovation; 
but  the  musicians  liked  it  because  it  gave  them  more  freedom, 
and  Cambert,  the  organist  of  the  church  of  St.  Honore,  set 
the  verses  to  music.  Now,  in  itself,  this  new  poetry  was  not 
elevating,  being  merely  a  series  of  drinking-songs,  although 
attractive  because  of  their  form  and  decided  character.  In 
his  preface  to  these  songs  the  composer  praises  the  poet's 
originality  and  regrets  that  his  music  is  not  as  good  as  the 
poetry  deserves  — ■  a  rather  rare  confession,  Perrin  imme- 
diately set  to  work  to  carry  out  his  ideas  in  a  Masque  which 
would  appeal  to  its  hearers  because  it  was  based  on  life  —  not, 
like  Peri's  opera,  on  mythology.  With  Cambert  he  prepared 
the  first  French  musical  comedy,  called  ''Vaudeville  pastorale," 
which  was  performed  in  1659  before  the  summer  court  at 
Issy.  This  work  was  in  every  sense  an  opera,  not  merely  a 
song-play  with  incidental  music  such  as  had  obtained  pre- 
viously in  Masques;  for  recitative  was  substituted  for  speech 
in  imitation  of  Italian  opera,  and  the  music  was  continuous. 
The  immediate  success  of  this  work  is  the  more  creditable 
because  it  lacked  the  usual  accessories  of  the  ballet,  such  as 
brilliancy  of  costuming,  scenery,  etc.,  and  was  performed 
upon  an  impromptu  stage.  It  was  equally  successful  when 
repeated  at  the  court  of  Vincennes,  and  the  authors  hoped 
to  be  commissioned  to  write  a  similar  work  for  the  marriage 
of  Louis  XIV.  In  this  they  were  disappointed,  for  Cardinal 
Mazarin  sent  for  Cavalh,  the  direct  successor  of  Monteverde, 
who  brought  out  his  opera  Xerxes  for  the  occasion.  Shortly 
afterward    Perrin's    protector,    the    Duke    of    Orleans,    and 


French  Opera  from  its  Beginning  163 

Mazarin  both  died.  Nothing,  however,  could  restrain  the 
poet's  ardor,  and  he  conceived  the  idea  that  the  general 
pubHc,  the  masses,  would  be  wilHng  to  support  opera  as  a 
form  of  entertainment.  He  managed  to  secure  a  patent  or 
permission  for  twelve  years,  granting  him  the  privilege  of 
estabUshing  an  Academy  of  ''Opera,"  or  "musical  represen- 
tation," as  it  was  called,  as  the  players  of  the  Passion  had 
done  many  years  before.  He  succeeded  in  securing  the 
support  of  a  rich  man,  Champeron,  and  called  to  his  aid 
Cambert,  the  Marquis  de  Surdeac,  a  nobleman  who  had  a 
talent  for  stage  mechanism,  and  Beauchamp,  the  imperial 
ballet-master,  thus  providing  all  the  factors  necessary  to 
produce  opera.  A  building  was  erected  in  the  Rue  Mazarin, 
and  they  went  to  work  on  the  opera  Pomone,  which  was  pro- 
duced in  March,  167 1.  Though  the  libretto  was  dramatically 
rather  poor,  the  music  pleased,  as  did  the  splendor  of  the 
stage  accessories,  and  the  opera  ran  night  after  night  for 
eight  months.  In  our  day  that  does  not  seem  a  long  time, 
but  in  those  days  it  was  an  enormous  period  of  time  for  a 
"run"  of  a  play  or  an  opera.  It  was  such  a  great  popular 
success  that  the  police  had  to  be  called  out  to  control  the 
crowds  who  clamored  for  admission.  For  various  reasons 
the  poet  Perrin  soon  dropped  out  of  this  coterie  of  opera 
promoters,  and  another  poet,  named  Gilbert,  was  substituted. 
In  November  of  the  same  year  they  produced  another  opera, 
also  a  Pastorale,  entitled  "The  Difficulties  and  Pleasures  of 
Love."  This  work  might  have  been  as  great  a  success  as 
its  predecessor  if  in  the  meantime  another  and  stronger 
character  had  not  appeared  on  the  scene.  This  was  Jean- 
Baptiste  Lully,  an  Italian,  born  in  Florence  in  1633.  who 
came  to  France  in  1646  in  the  suite  of  a  French  nobleman 
who  had  heard  the  boy  play  the  violin  in  Italy.  Lully 
possessed  considerable  ability  as  a  vioHnist  and  versatile 
musician.  He  was  also  a  good  comedian,  and  these  varied 
accomplishments  gained  him  the  favor  of  the  king,  who  con- 


164  Familiar  Talks  on  the  History  of  Music 

ferred  on  him  the  title  of  ''Inspector  of  violins,"  and  also 
gave  him  the  use  of  a  small  orchestra,  for  which  he  wrote 
special  music  which  is  said  to  have  been  extremely  pleasing 
to  the  court.  His  first  successes  were  due  to  incidental  music 
written  for  the  plays  of  Boileau,  La  Fontaine,  and  the  great 
Moliere.  He  seems,  however,  to  have  been  a  very  un- 
scrupulous chap,  and  ungrateful  to  those  to  whom  he  owed 
his  success  and  opportunities,  for  he  is  known  to  have  in- 
trigued against  Cambert  at  the  time  of  that  gentleman's 
rupture  with  Perrin.  By  various  means  he  succeeded  in 
securing  a  revocation  of  the  royal  permission  previously 
granted  to  the  others,  and  in  stopping  the  performance  of 
Pomone.  Having  obtained  his  own  patent,  he  determined  to 
establish  an  "Academie  Royale  de  Musique"  for  the  purpose 
of  giving  opera.  In  this  he  was  most  successful,  and  together 
with  his  collaborator,  the  poet  Quinault,  inaugurated  the 
golden  age  of  French  opera,  which  lasted  a  hundred  years. 
Lully's  success  was  a  popular  one  and  due  to  the  fact  that  he 
appreciated  the  wants  and  desires  of  the  contemporary  public. 
Being  at  home  in  tragedy,  he  gave  up  the  Perrin  form  of 
blank  verse,  and  tried  to  conform  to  the  nature  of  Greek 
drama  more  closely  than  his  Italian  contemporaries.  His 
music  is  therefore  more  like  Monteverde's,  but  he  nevertheless 
strikes  out  for  himself  a  path  which  is  absolutely  individual. 
His  operas  are  inferior  as  musical  art-works  because  his  aim 
was  musical  rhetoric  and  declamation  in  dramatic  expression 
—  a  union  of  tone  with  speech  —  rather  than  lyric  song.  His 
music,  in  consequence,  was  simpler  in  form  than  that  of 
Scarlatti,  but  more  expressive  of  dramatic  spirit.  For  the 
poverty  of  his  music  he  compensated  by  his  knowledge  of  the 
stage  and  its  accessories.  In  his  intense  earnestness  to  do 
his  work  well,  he  tyrannized  over  his  librettist,  his  singers 
his  chorus,  orchestra,  and  dancers  —  over  all  who  were  in  any 
manner  necessary  to  the  successful  production  of  opera.  He 
taught   the  performers  how  to  act,  gave  them  better  stage 


French  Opera  from  its  Beginning  165 

manners,  and  insisted  above  all  on  distinct  enunciation,  some- 
thing absolutely  demanded  in  French  opera  to-day.  We  all 
know  that,  no  matter  how  beautiful  the  voice,  the  effect  is 
marred  if  the  enunciation  is  not  clear,  and  every  one  who 
aspires  to  be  a  singer  must,  therefore,  acquire  an  absolutely 
distinct  and  clear  delivery  of  the  text.  Lully's  insistence  on 
this  feature  was  all  the  more  necessary  because  of  the  declam- 
atory character  of  his  music,  even  in  the  choruses,  which, 
by  the  way,  were  much  more  prominent  in  the  French  than 
in  the  Italian  operas,  and  had  more  to  do,  as  in  the  Greek 
drama.  The  chief  advance  in  musical  form  made  by  Lully 
was  in  the  overture,  which  he  perfected  far  beyond  that 
known  in  Italy.  Like  Monteverde,  he  makes  use  of  so-called 
''symphonies"  to  express  dramatic  action,  employing  them 
either  as  descriptions  or  as  reminiscences  after  the  manner 
of  his  Italian  predecessor.  ■'    ' -« -^ 

His  operas  held  the  stage  for  many  years,  the  last  being 
performed  as  late  as  1778.  During  his  lifetime  his  jealousy 
and  the  favor  of  the  king  allowed  no  one  on  the  operatic 
stage  but  himself,  but  shortly  before  his  death  there  was 
born,  in  1683,  one  who  was  destined  to  be  a  many-sided 
genius,  Jean-Philippe  Rameau.  He  was  one  of  the  most 
versatile  men  of  whom  we  have  record  among  musicians, 
being  a  mathematician,  a  physicist,  a  profound  theorist,  and 
a  virtuoso  upon  the  harpsichord.  His  is  one  of  the  four 
great  names  of  such  virtuosi  of  the  early  eighteenth  century. 
Bach,  Handel,  Scarlatti  and  Rameau.  His  education  was 
very  broad,  and  his  talents  were  correspondingly  great.  He 
was  intended  for  the  profession  of  the  law,  but  in  1701  went, 
instead,  to  study  music  at  Milan.  The  sugared,  florid,  un- 
dramatic  singing  of  Italian  opera  in  the  early  eighteenth 
century  was,  however,  not  to  his  taste,  and  he  considered  it 
far  inferior  to  the  dignified  declamatory  style  of  Lully.  He 
therefore  returned  to  Paris  and  began  to  study  seriously 
with  the  organist  ISIarchand,  who,  however,  soon  dropped  him 


1 66  Familiar  Talks  on  the  History  of  Music 

as  a  probably  dangerous  future  rival.  After  this  he  settled 
down  in  a  quiet  village  near  Paris,  and  devoted  himself  to  the 
study  of  the  works  of  Zarlino  (the  pioneer  in  the  "tempered 
scale"  movement)  and  other  Italian  and  French  theorists. 

In  1725  he  pubHshed  a  new  system  of  Musical  Theory  in 
which  he  promulgates  and  gives  rules  with  regard  to  the 
inversions  of  chords  which  had  been  in  use  in  all  forms  of 
composition  for  centuries.  While  this  work  won  him  repu- 
tation as  a  learned  musician,  what  he  desired  above  all  things 
was  recognition  as  a  composer.  In  1730  he  wrote  the  opera 
Samson,  Ubretto  by  Voltaire;  but  it  was  declined  at  the 
''National  Opera"  because  founded  on  a  BibHcal  story.  In 
1733  he  tried  again,  selecting  a  classical  subject,  Hippolyte 
et  Aricie.  The  first  impression  this  work  made  up)on  the 
pubUc  was  one  of  surprise  rather  than  of  satisfaction,  and 
Rameau,  disappointed  at  its  lack  of  success,  felt  disposed  to 
renounce  further  operatic  composition.  The  public  at  first 
seems  to  have  resented  his  views  and  innovations  as  insults 
to  the  genius  of  Lully,  to  whose  style  of  dramatic  music  it 
was  accustomed;  but  upon  the  production  of  his  next  opera, 
Castor  and  Pollux,  the  Parisian  opera-goers  divided  into  two 
camps,  and  pamphlets  were  circulated  containing  varied 
justifications  of  the  positions  which  their  authors  took  in 
championing,  or  opposing,  the  style  of  the  new  opera.  Similar 
usage  characterized  all  the  struggles  for  the  development  of 
opera  in  France.  The  following  is  a  free  translation  of  one 
•of  the  numerous  slurs  and  epigrams  leveled  at  poor  Rameau: 

If  the  difficult  be  the  beautiful, 

What  a  great  man  is  Rameau! 
^,'  But  if  the  beautiful,  peradventure, 

'  -•*  Be  nothing  but  simple  nature, 

^Vhat  a  small  man  is  Rameau! 

In  his  twenty-two  subsequent  operas  he  strengthened  his 
hold  upon  the  music-loving  public,  and  became  the  acknowl- 
edged first  French  Grand-Opera  composer. 


French  Opera  from  its  Beginning  167 

His  works  so  far  surpassed  those  of  Lully  that  many  of  his 
ablest  contemporaries  conceded  that  one  of  his  operas  con- 
tained enough  new  matter  and  material  to  make  ten  of 
LuUy's.  He  retained  his  prominence  in  the  operatic  field 
until  his  death  in  1764,  in  spite  of  cabals  and  intrigues.  At 
his  funeral  the  world  of  art  and  letters  united  to  do  him 
honor,  and  the  anniversary  of  his  death  is  still  observed  with 
memorial  ceremonies. 

Besides  his  great  advance  in  the  domain  of  French  opera, 
he  is  one  of  the  four  great  musicians  responsible  for  the 
general  adoption  of  the  tempered  scale,  which  had  already 
been  in  use  to  some  extent  in  Germany  because  of  the  demands 
of  Bach  as  far  as  the  piano  and  organ  were  concerned,  but 
which  was  now  adopted  for  all  instruments  with  fixed  pitch, 
such  as  flutes,  oboes,  etc. 

Rameau's  most  remarkable  French  contemporary  was  that 
genius  of  many  humanitarian  and  educational  novelties,  the 
father  of  the  kindergarten  idea,  Jean-Jacques  Rousseau. 
This  man's  importance  in  the  history  of  music  is  not  very 
great,  but  one  thing  that  he  did  deserves  our  special  notice. 
Having  always  found  it  difficult  to  read  music  at  sight,  he 
devised  the  system  of  the  "movable  </o,"  as  we  call  it,  with 
notation  by  numerals  instead  of  notes.  This  had  been  sug- 
gested and  even  virtually  taught  by  Guido  d'Arezzo  in 
1050,  in  his  hexachord  scales,  when  he  called  each  tonic 
ut  and  where  mi-fa  always  represented  a  half-step.  Rameau 
requested  its  adoption  by  the  Academy  of  Sciences,  but 
it  failed,  being  considered  "musically  unworthy."  Never- 
theless, in  the  last  century,  two  men,  Paris  and  Cheve, 
worked  out  this  very  idea  of  Rousseau's,  this  reading  by  to- 
nality, by  key-relationship,  and  it  is  now  in  general  use  in 
France.  Rousseau  lacked  musical  education,  but  not  genius. 
Rameau  said  of  his  compositions  that  some  of  them  sounded 
like  the  work  of  an  artist,  while  others  sounded  like  the 
work  of  a   man  unacquainted  with   the  first  principles  of 


1 68  Familiar  Talks  on  the  History  of  Music 

musical  art.     His  best  opera  is  Le  Devin  du  Village^  written: 
in  1752. 

In  the  same  year  Pergolese's  opera  bouffe  La  Serva  Padrona 
was  brought  from  Italy.  Its  appearance  forms  another  epi- 
sode in  the  operatic  controversy  which,  from  the  beginning 
of  the  eighteenth  century,  had  continued  at  intervals,  and 
upon  its  production  the  theater  became  a  field  of  oratorical 
battle.  The  king  and  Madame  Pompadour  defended  national 
music,  and  their  supporters  ranged  themselves  on  one  side  of 
of  the  opera-house  in  ''le  coin  du  Roi"  (the  corner  of  the  king), 
while  the  supporters  of  Italian  opera  ranged  themselves  with 
the  queen  on  the  opposite  side  in  "le  coin  de  la  Reine"  (the 
corner  of  the  queen).  Pamphlets  flew  about.  Every  one 
who  aspired  to  be  anybody  in  musical  or  educational  circles 
contributed  to  the  literature  on  the  subject,  even  Germany 
furnishing  her  share  in  favor  of  Italian  opera.  Rameau,  recog- 
nizing that  people  were  tired  of  the  shackles  of  tradition,  and 
that  opera  bouffe  (comic  opera)  ■  contained  the  germs  of  genu- 
ine popularity,  said,  "If  I  were  thirty  years  younger,  I  would 
go  to  Italy  and  study  Pergolese;  but  I  am  now  past  sixty, 
and  I  cannot  change."  The  common  people  preferring  opera 
bouffe,  La  Serva  Padrona  was  translated  into  the  vernacular 
and  given  at  the  "Opera-Comique,"  the  opera  house  which 
presented  burlesques  or  parodies  of  the  serious  works  per- 
formed at  the  grand  opera.  La  Serva  Padrona  was  exactly 
what  the  patrons  of  the  Opera-Comique  wanted,  and  became 
so  popular  that  a  number  of  French  composers  began  to  write 
in  this  style.  Among  them  we  must  especially  mention 
Favart,  Marmontel  and  Dauvergne;  the  latter's  opera  Les 
Troqueurs  was  very  popular  during  the  early  part  of  the 
nineteenth  century  (and  is  still  given),  because  scenes  and 
happenings  from  every-day  life  formed  its  subject.  Thus 
originated  the  real  French  opera,  opera  comique  (comedy- 
opera),  which  is  the  expression  of  the  popular  taste  and  the 
popular  life. 


French  Opera  from  its  Beginning  169 

The  greatest  operatic  mind  of  the  eighteenth  century,  and 
one  of  the  greatest  of  all  time,  was  Gluck  (17 14-1785).  The 
Italian  opera,  as  we  have  seen,  was  reduced  by  the  middle  of 
this  century  to  a  mere  collection  of  showy  pieces  for  the 
singers,  the  arias  having  an  excuse  in  the  story,  but  the  dra- 
matic action  being  entirely  lost  because  of  the  interminable 
length  of  these  arias,  and  the  many  recalls  of  the  singers,  the 
whole  being  more  like  a  concert  than  what  we  now  call  an 
opera.  During  these  arias,  dramatic  action  stopped,  as  may 
be  observed  in  the  mad  scene  of  Lucia,  where  the  chorus, 
representing  the  relatives  and  friends  of  poor,  insane  Lucia, 
stand  around  while  she  sings  long  cadenzas  in  alternation 
with  the  flute,  in  such  trying  relationship  as  to  test  all  the 
vocal  ability  and  technique  of  a  sane  person. 

The  efforts  of  Gluck  were  antagonistic  to  those  practices, 
a-lthough  he  was  educated  at  Prague,  a  stronghold  of  Italian 
:^ra,  and  studied  music  in  Italy.  To  this  fact,  of  course, 
IS  due  his  love  for  the  Italian  language.  He  wrote  for  Milan, 
Venice,  Cremona  and  other  Italian  cities,  was  invited  to 
England  in  1746,  and  there  produced  two  operas  which  met 
with  but  moderate  success  and  made  but  a  slight  impression 
on  Handel,  who  had  already  abandoned  the  operatic  field 
for  that  of  oratorio.  Gluck's  visit  to  England  was  the  turning- 
point  in  his  career,  for  he  became  inspired  by  the  choral 
works  of  Handel  and  impressed  by  their  seriousness,  while 
mortification  over  his  own  failures  led  him  to  study  the  nature 
of  dramatic  music.  On  his  way  back  to  Vienna  he  passed 
through  Paris,  and  heard  some  of  Rameau's  operas,  which 
also  made  a  deep  impression  upon  him.  He  struggled  on 
for  some  years  producing  now  and  then  an  opera  that  was 
slightly  better,  but  not  of  great  note,  until  his  Orpheus  appeared 
in  Vienna  in  1762.  This  is  his  first  master-work.  It  is 
conceived  in  the  style  of  the  Greek  drama  after  the  ideas 
of  Monteverde,  except  that  the  chorus  has  also  a  prominent 
Dan  in   the  dramatic   action.     His  instrumentation  was  a 


lyo  Familiar  Talks  on  the  History  of  Music 

revelation  of  the  possibilities  of  the  orchestra,  and  proved 
that  he  at  last  had  found  his  true  sphere.  In  1 767  he  produced 
Alceste,  whose  music  is  excessively  severe  and  tragic.  The 
public  was  divided  as  to  its  merits.  The  more  thoughtful, 
having  conceived  an  idea  of  what  music  might  some  day 
become  (we  are  now  speaking  of  the  eighteenth  century), 
realized  that  probably  only  in  a  more  self -forgetful  future 
would  such  a  lofty  work  be  duly  appreciated. 

In  his  dedication  of  Alceste  to  the  Duke  of  Tuscany,  which 
forms  a  sort  of  preface  to  the  work,  he  gives  the  reasons  for 
his  departure  from  the  then  recognized  Italian  opera-forms 
in  the  following  words:  "I  seek  to  put  music  to  its  true 
purpose,  that  is,  to  support  the  poem  and  thus  to  strengthen 
the  expression  of  feeling  and  the  interest  of  the  situation, 
without  interrupting  the  action.  I  have,  therefore,  refrained 
from  interrupting  the  actor  in  his  fervent  dialogues  by  little 
ritournelles ;  nor  have  I  broken  his  phrase  at  a  convenient 
vowel,  so  that  he  might  exhibit  upon  it  the  agility  of  his  voice; 
nor  have  I  written  phrases  for  the  orchestra,  that  the  singer 
may  take  a  deep  breath  for  such  an  exhibition;  nor  have  I 
permitted  myself  to  close  an  aria  when  the  sense  was  incom- 
plete, simply  to  give  the  singer  a  chance  to  introduce  a  long 
cadenza.  In  short,  I  have  striven  to  abolish  all  these  bad 
habits  against  which  sound  reasoning  and  true  taste  have 
been  struggling  for  so  long  in  vain." 

Galled  by  the  lack  of  appreciation  and  the  criticisms  of  his 
high  ideals  by  his  countrymen,  and  noting  the  revolutionary 
tendency  of  French  philosophy  and  art-tastes,  he  went  to 
Paris,  hoping  to  find  recognition  there.  In  this  he  was  not 
disappointed.  Through  his  powerful  artist-personality  and 
with  the  assistance  of  a  stipend  from  Marie  Antoinette,  one 
of  his  former  pupils,  he  was  enabled  to  obtain  the  support  of 
the  Queen's  followers  and  to  produce  his  Alceste  in  Paris. 
Iphigenia  in  Tanris  followed  in  1774,  Arniida  in  1777.  Here 
he  shows  himself  equally  at  home  in  rich,  sensuous  music,  and 


French  Opera  from  iis  Beginning  171 

he  succeeded  so  well  that  the  Bouffonites,  the  King's  followers, 
in  their  opposition  called  Piccini  from  Italy  to  bring  out  the 
latter's  opera  Roland. 

Once  again  the  operatic  war  broke  out  between  the  old 
elements,  the  partisans  now  styling  themselves  Gluckists  and 
Piccinists,  and  volumes  were  written  in  praise  of  Italian  music 
and  in  criticisms  of  Gluck's  so-called  roughness;  but,  though 
he  was  accused  of  everything  unmusical,  and  was  compared 
with  a  music-hall  composer,  he  had  the  support  of  the  men 
and  women  who  were  representative  of  the  literature  which 
then  ruled  the  intellectual  life  of  fashion. 

The  rivalry  between  Piccini  and  Gluck,  i.e.,  the  struggle  for 
supremacy  between  Italian  and  French  opera  (by  a  German), 
may  be  said  to  have  ended  when  Gluck's  Iphigenia  in  Tauris, 
succeeding  an  operatic  setting  of  the  same  libretto  by  Piccini, 
was  conceded  to  be  superior,  even  by  his  rival,  who  promptly 
withdrew  his  own  work  and  returned  to  Italy. 

All  the  finest  qualities  of  Italian  and  French  music,  and  the 
beauty  of  the  German  orchestra,  are  united  in  Gluck's  later 
works  and  even  to-day  they  are  often  produced  in  Europe  and 
occasionally  in  this  country.  Gluck  was  in  many  respects  a 
direct  precursor  of  Wagner.     He  died  at  Vienna  in  1787. 

The  history  of  French  opera  from  the  time  of  Gluck  is,  with 
few  exceptions  (and  those  only  within  the  last  fifty  years), 
the  history  of  the  Opera-Comique.  During  the  Revolution 
of  1795  and  the  five  years  preceding,  the  theaters  in  Paris 
were  crowded,  but  the  composers  were  employed  in  glorifying 
the  revolutionary  proceedings  by  national  hymns  and  other 
occasional  works;  so  the  musical  productions  of  that  time 
have  had  no  influence  beyond  their  own  period.  To  this 
there  is  one  exception,  "The  Marseillaise,"  written  and  com- 
posed by  Rouget  de  Lisle  in  1792  as  a  "chant  de  guerre  pour 
I'armee  du  Rhin,"  and  scored  for  orchestra  by  Gossec,  which 
has  retained  its  power  from  that  day  to  this.  To  this  period 
of  bloody  revolution  belongs  one  very  peaceful  event,  namely, 


172  Familiar  Talks  on  the  History  of  Music 

the  establishment  of  the  great  Paris  "Conservatoire  de  Mu- 
sique  et  de  Declamation,"  which  was  designed  originally  by  its 
founder,  Sarrette,  for  the  education  of  French  military  band 
players,  that  they  might  replace  the  Germans  then  employed 
in  the  French  army.  After  the  government  assumed  control 
over  this  institution,  which  had  been  supported  out  of  Sar- 
rette's  private  means,  its  sphere  was  enlarged  to  include  all 
forms  of  musical  instruction. 

That  the  German  spirit  for  many  succeeding  years  influ- 
enced the  growth  of  French  opera  is  proved  by  Mehul's 
Joseph  and  Cherubini's  Wassertrager,  both  composers  acknowl- 
edged as  great  musicians  by  Germany;  the  latter  being  called 
by  Beethoven  an  unsurpassable  master  in  this  kind  of  com- 
position. 

Spontini,  the  genuinely  Napoleonic  representative  of  the 
musical  drama  of  France,  followed  Gluck's  ideal  very  closely, 
but  labored  during  the  larger  part  of  his  artist  life  in  Berlin, 
where  from  1820  to  1841  he  was  general  music-director. 

The  French  spirit  from  the  day  of  Gluck  until  the  second 
half  of  the  nineteenth  century  was  expressed  almost  exclu- 
sively in  comedy-opera,  which,  as  we  have  stated,  is  quite 
different  from  what  we  call  "comic  opera,"  having  a  much 
higher  character,  as  exemplified  in  Boieldieu's  Calif  of  Bagdad 
(1800)  and  John  of  Paris  (1812);  in  Auber's  La  Muette  de 
Portici  (1828)  and  Fra  Diavolo  (1830),  works  which  in  this 
country  are  often  called  grand  opera.  Herold  (1791-1856), 
with  his  Zarnpa  (whose  overture  is  so  well  known),  and  other 
operas,  begins  to  reflect  the  vigorous  romantic  spirit  then 
abroad  in  Europe;  this  was  also  the  case  with  the  works  of 
Charles  Adam  (1803-1856),  who  produced  his  opera  Le  Postil- 
ion de  Longjumeau  in  1836. 

The  greatest,  however,  of  all  Gluck's  successors  in  the 
domain  of  French  grand  opera  up  to  within  the  last  few  years 
was  Gounod,  whom  we  know  best  as  the  composer  of  Faust. 
He  was  above  all  a  lyric  composer  of  unusual  merit,  though 


French  Opera  from  its  Beginning  173 

somewhat  deficient  in  dramatic  power,  even  his  Faust  depend- 
ing on  the  choruses  and  songs  rather  than  on  the  dramatic 
action. 

Other  French  opera  composers  of  the  last  fifty  years  are 
Victor  Masse,  who  wrote  several  operas;  Massenet,  with  his 
Roi  de  Lahore  and  Thais;  Saint-Saens,  whose  Samson  and 
Delilah  is  highly  appreciated;  Delibes,  with  Sylvia  and 
Lahne;  Lalo,  with  Le  Roi  d^Ys;  Bizet,  with  Carmen;  Thomas, 
with  Mignon,  Hamlet  and  Francoise  de  Rimini. 

At  the  present  time  French  opera  is  not  so  much  French, 
except  in  language,  as  it  is  cosmopolitan,  its  distinguishing 
features  being  sprightly  rhythms,  clear  melodic  forms,  and 
clever  instrumentation.  Among  foreign  composers  who  have 
contributed  to  French  opera,  we  must  mention  Meyerbeer, 
who,  although  also  a  German,  gave  us  Les  Huguenots  and 
Robert  le  Diahle.  The  names  of  contemporary  successful 
composers  of  French  opera,  and  of  their  works,  may  be  learned 
by  reading  the  repertoire  of  modern  Grand  Opera  companies. 


CHAPTER  XII. 

OPERA  IN  GERMANY  AND  THE  GERMAN  OPERA. 

Germany  was  the  first  country  outside  of  Italy  in  which 
an  Itahan  opera  was  performed,  and  it  was  given  in  the  German 
language  and  not  in  the  original  Italian ;  for  like  the  French, 
the  Germans  have,  from  the  outset,  stood  for  the  principle 
that  if  they  were  to  have  any  opera,  they  wanted  it  in  their 
own  language.  This  is  not  strange,  when  we  remember  how, 
even  from  the  very  beginning  of  the  Christian  church,  they 
protested  against  participation  in  the  Latin  musical  services, 
and  would  sing  only  in  German,  standing  up  sturdily  for  their 
own  tongue.  That  we,  as  Americans,  have  not  been  equally 
persistent  in  demanding  opera  in  our  own  tongue,  is  the  result 
of  many  causes  which  may  not  be  stated  here. 

We  have  already  considered  the  "Moralities"  or  "Mystery- 
plays,"  as  precursors  of  the  Oratorio,  having  principally 
theological  and  moral  aims.  Besides  these,  there  were  in 
vogue  among  German  university  students  certain  kinds  of 
dramatic  and  comic  plays  which  were  recited  in  Latin  or 
German,  and  which  later,  because  of  Renaissance  influence, 
assumed  importance  as  factors  in  the  regeneration  of  the 
drama  according  to  Greek  ideals.  Different  kinds  of  entertain- 
ment called  inter-scencB  or  entr^actes,  consisting  of  vocal  and 
instrumental  numbers  which  had  no  connection  with  the 
comedies  themselves,  filled  the  pauses  between  the  acts  of 
the  plays. 

One  of  these  school  comedies,  entitled  "Jerusalem  delivered 
by  the  noble  Prince,  Godfrey,  Duke  of  Bouillon,"  will  serve  as 
an  illustration.  Its  first  inter-scena  consisted  of  (i)  a  panto- 
mime by  Pallas- Athene,  Diana,  Daphne  and  Mercury,  with 

174 


opera  in  Germany  and  the  German  Opera  175 

instrumental  accompaniment;  (2)  a  chorus  sung  by  "all  the 
nymphs;  "  (3)  lyrics  sung  by  Mercury  and  the  goddesses; 
and  (4)  a  ballet  "neatly  danced"  by  Mercury  and  the  nymphs. 
Its  second  inkr-scena  represented  a  combat  between  "Amazons 
and  men";  others  consisted  of  dances,  quartets  and  songs. 

Besides  these  student-plays,  there  were  in  vogue  at  the 
annual  fairs  and  among  the  guilds  of  which  we  have  repeatedly 
spoken,  certain  dramatic  performances  called  "Carnival 
plays,"  which  were  at  first  arranged  and  concocted  chiefly 
by  workingmen,  but  later  by  folk-poets  such  as  Hans  Sachs. 

The  Elector  John  George  of  Saxony,  however,  deemed  this 
sort  of  entertainment  insufficient  for  the  entourage  of  the 
Landgrave  of  Darmstadt,  who  was  to  marry  his  daughter, 
in  1620.  Having  heard  of  the  great  revival  of  what  was  then 
thought  to  be  the  music  of  antiquity,  he  sent  his  court  music 
director,  Heinrich  Schiitz,  to  Florence,  to  study  its  form  and 
to  secure  a  copy  of  Peri's  maiden  effort.  Upon  his  return, 
the  Elector  commissioned  the  court  poet,  Opitz,  to  translate 
the  ItaHan  text  into  German.  When  the  translation  was 
finished,  it  was  found  that  text  and  music  did  not  agree,  the 
dramatic  accent  of  the  German  declamation  not  being  in 
accord  with  that  of  the  Italian.  Schiitz,  whom  we  have 
mentioned  as  a  pupil  of  Gabrieli,  was  therefore  commissioned 
to  write  new  music  in  the  Italian  style  to  the  translated 
text.  In  this  form  it  was  performed  in  Germany,  but,  since 
there  was  now  nothing  left  of  the  Italian  work  except  the 
story,  we  may  well  say  that  it  was  the  first  German  opera, 
even  though  its  creation  as  such  was  almost  accidental. 

Neither  the  audiences  nor  the  musicians  of  that  day  seem 
to  have  recognized  the  importance  of  what  had  thus  been 
done,  or  the  possibilities  suggested  by  the  performance  of 
this  work.  Schiitz,  moreover,  was  (as  we  shall  see  later) 
essentially  a  Church  composer,  although  he  wrote  one  other 
opera  in  the  Italian  style,  copied  after  ]Monteverde's  Orpheus, 
which   was  performed  in   Dresden,   in    1638.     This   lack  of 


176  Familiar  Talks  on  the  History  of  Music 

initiative  on  the  part  of  musicians  to  write  similar  works  was 
partly  due  to  the  political  disturbances  and  consequent  ma- 
terial distress  created  by  the  Thirty- Years'  war,  which  was 
so  destructive  of  every  form  of  art  in  the  German  cities. 

The  city  of  Hamburg,  however,  formed  an  exception.  Be- 
ing a  free  city,  and  consequently  immune  from  the  ravages 
of  war  and  the  drafting  of  its  citizens  into  the  army,  also 
because  of  its  geographical  position,  its  commercial  energy, 
and  the  consequent  wealth  and  unusually  high  ideals  of  life 
among  its  citizens,  it  had  become  a  sort  of  nursery  of  musical 
art  and  a  Mecca  for  musicians,  and  as  such  had  obtained  a 
considerable  reputation  throughout  Germany.  The  fact  that 
Christoph  Bernhard,  when  called  in  1664  from  Dresden  to 
Hamburg  to  be  Director  of  Protestant  church  music  in  that 
city,  was  met  by  the  city  ofhcials,  two  miles  out  of  town, 
with  a  retinue  of  six  coaches  and  a  parade,  and  escorted  by 
them  to  a  home  that  had  been  prepared  for  him,  is  one  of  the 
best  evidences  of  the  city's  respect  for  men  of  learning. 
Even  fifty  or  one  hundred  years  later,  such  an  action  would 
have  been  uncommon,  and  proves  that  Hamburg  was  a  city 
which  highly  esteemed  knowledge,  art  and  skill.  Naturally, 
some  of  the  best  musicians  in  Germany,  hungry  for  that  kind 
of  recognition,  and  appreciating  its  contrast  with  the  servant- 
like treatment  they  received  almost  everywhere  else,  flocked 
to  this  hospitable  city  and  made  it  their  home. 

Since  the  most  progressive  of  them  were  employed  in  the 
churches,  it  was  but  natural  that  the  influence  of  the  newly 
recognized  dramatic  element  in  music  should  there  first  be 
felt.  This  aroused  opposition,  and  the  question  was  freely 
discussed  as  to  whether  music,  proper  for  the  church,  should 
be  in  the  then  accepted  choral  style,  or  in  a  subdued  theatrical 
style,  with  strong  emotional  and  dramatic  expression.  The 
best  qualified  musicians  were  inclined  to  this  latter  form, 
holding  that  the  very  best  forms  of  music  should  be  used  by 
the  church,  and  should  not  be  confined  to  the  theater. 


opera  in  Germany  and  the  German  Opera  177 

As  a  natural  consequence  of  this  attitude,  the  dramatic 
Protestant  church  cantata,  which  later  developed  into  the 
Passion  music  as  perfected  by  Bach,  was  originated.  Some 
of  the  clergy  themselves  wrote  Ubrettos  for  these  cantatas  in 
operatic  form,  based  on  the  sacred  text,  but  it  was  not  long 
before  the  poets  began  to  crowd  out  the  Bibhcal  text  with 
inspirations  (?)  of  their  own.  These  were  often  anything 
but  sublime,  the  sad  story  of  the  Passion  being  sometimes 
almost  lost.  The  orthodox  clergy  of  course  objected  to  these 
inspirations,  and  a  literary-musical  feud  began,  which  was  not 
limited  to  the  city,  but  extended  far  beyond  its  confines. 

Because  of  Hamburg's  progressive  spirit,  it  was  natural 
that  she  should  also  lead  in  the  domain  of  opera.  The  de- 
velopment of  the  dramatic  element  in  church  music  gave  an 
impulse  toward  higher  and  better  things  for  the  theater. 
Artists,  musicians,  litterateurs,  and  even  the  clergy  gradually 
began  to  favor  the  opera.  Some  preachers  even  wrote  opera- 
texts,  to  show  their  approval  in  deed  as  well  as  in  word,  and 
their  wishes  were  finally  realized;  for  in  1678  the  first  German 
opera-house  was  opened  with  the  opera  ylJaw  and  Eve,  or,  The 
Created,  Fallen  and  Redeemed  Man,  text  by  the  celebrated 
preacher  Richter,  music  by  Theile.  This  first  intentional 
German  attempt  at  opera  excited  great  interest,  and  many 
confidently  hoped  for  a  rapid  development  of  this  form  of 
entertainment. 

Hamburg,  having  a  republican  form  of  government,  did  not 
have  to  consult  the  wishes  of  the  Court  and  aristocrats,  and 
it  was  expected  that  opera  would  please  the  people.  Its 
projectors,  however,  were  disappointed,  for  the  poets  wrote 
above  the  heads  of  the  multitude,  and  the  sacred,  austere  and 
profound  subjects  upon  which  their  hbrettos  were  based, 
gave  no  delight  to  the  pleasure-loving  audiences.  The 
managers,  therefore,  began  to  infuse  a  ludicrous  element  into 
the  sacred  plays,  sometimes  even  in  the  most  serious  situ- 
ations, hoping  thus  to  catch  public  favor.     The  operas  were 


178  Familiar  Talks  on  the  History  of  Music 

elaborately  staged,  almost  regardless  of  expense,  the  only 
great  difficulty  confronting  managers  and  composers  being  a 
lack  of  efficient  singers,  especially  for  women's  parts.  The 
Germans  did  not  like  the  unnatural  male  singers  employed 
throughout  Italy,  and  women  of  respectable  families  were 
ashamed  to  devote  themselves  to  the  stage  because  of  preju- 
dices then  already  existing.  Accordingly,  the  singers  secured 
were  largely  from  the  lower  classes,  though  they  were  to 
represent  goddesses,  queens  and  BibHcal  characters. 

During  the  directorship  of  the  musician  Cousser  (1693-95) 
great  improvements  were  made  in  German  opera,  which  he 
modeled  after  the  more  modern  ItaHan  plan,  introducing  a 
better  style  of  writing  and  singing.  Like  Lully,  he  exerted 
a  tremendous  influence  over  his  singers;  he  knew  how  to 
exercise  discipline  in  a  pleasant  manner,  resulting  in  a  much 
better  ensemble  than  had  ever  existed  before.  He  is  held  up 
by  Mattheson,  one  of  the  writers  of  the  day,  as  the  perfect 
music-director  and  teacher  of  artists.  Reinhard  Keiser 
(i 674-1 739),  who  came  to  Hamburg  in  the  same  year  as 
Cousser,  was  a  still  more  versatile  man,  and  became  the 
popular  idol.  While  in  Hamburg  he  wrote  one  hundred  and 
sixteen  operas;  however,  he  worked  only  to  please  the  people 
of  his  day,  and  in  this  he  succeeded. 

Hamburg  so  attracted  German  musicians  from  all  quarters 
by  its  efforts  for  the  formation  of  a  national  opera,  that 
Handel,  upon  his  return  from  Italy,  spent  three  years  (1703- 
1706)  in  work  for  the  opera-house  in  that  city.  In  spite  of 
even  his  efforts,  which  had  been  so  successful  in  Italy,  German 
opera  gradually  declined,  and  stimulants  wholly  foreign  to 
serious  works  became  increasingly  necessary  to  hold  the 
attention  of  the  fickle  public,  until  in  1738  it  was  entirely  dis- 
continued, and  this  last  stronghold  of  the  opposition  surren- 
dered to  the  victorious  Italians. 

About  the  middle  of  the  eighteenth  century,  however, 
German  poetry   took   a   strong  upward   flight   through    the 


opera  in  "Germany  and  the  German  Opera  179 

writings  of  the  great  poets  of  Frederick  the  Great's  time, 
Klopstock  and  Lessing.  Before  long,  German  opera,  or  at 
least  opera  by  Germans,  began  to  bestir  itself  again  through 
the  efforts  of  Gluck,  who  followed  LuUy  and  Rameau  as  the 
most  suitable  models  for  the  expression  of  his  German  opposi- 
tion to  the  dramatic  vagueness  of  the  then  prevalent  Italian 
opera. 

The  scene  of  operatic  attempts  now  shifted  to  Leipzig, 
which  extended  a  welcome  to  the  bold  spirits  who  ventured 
to  contend  with  the  Italians,  resulting,  in  1765,  in  a  song-play 
entitled  The  Devil  is  Loose,  or,  The  Transformed  Women,  the 
music  by  Hiller,  the  Cantor  of  St.  Thomas'  church.  Poor 
Hiller  had  his  hands  full,  having  to  meet  an  even  more  griev- 
ous difficulty  in  his  artistic  efforts  than  that  of  securing 
capable  singers  to  give  acceptable  performances  of  his  music, 
for  the  theater-director  required  him  to  write  opera  music  so 
simple  that  the  audience  could  occasionally  join  in  the  perform- 
ance. An  intimate  friend  of  Killer's,  who  was  familiar  with 
the  composer's  ideals,  especially  mentions  the  lack  of  available 
singers,  and  says:  "As  often  as  there  came  an  air  by  Hiller 
that  was  full  of  noble  feeling  and  very  expressive,  I  imagined 
to  myself  how  he  used  to  sing  it  to  me  at  home,  and  then  I  had 
to  listen  to  the  bawling  of  some  big-mouthed  female  singer 
or  the  fog-horn-like  night-watchman's  voice  of  the  lover.'' 
Still,  Killer's  form  of  the  song-play  was  very  popular,  partly 
because  of  its  merit  as  a  species  of  musical  amusement  and 
partly  because  of  the  really  intense  patriotic  feeling  of  the 
German  people  that  prompted  their  antagonism  to  foreign 
ideas. 

In  Vienna,  German  song-plays  and  operettas  had  already 
been  performed  for  many  years  by  itinerant  theatrical  troupes, 
and,  as  early  as  1751,  Kaydn  had  tried  his  powers  on  one  of 
these,  but  neither  that  operetta  nor  an  early  work  of  IMozart's 
given  in  1768  (in  private)  exercised  any  particular  influence  on 
the  development  of  German  opera. 


i8o  Familiar  Talks  on  the  History  of  Music 

In  1765  Joseph  II  ascended  the  Austrian  throne,  and  from 
the  beginning  of  his  reign  he  patronized  the  German  stage, 
recognizing  its  aid  in  the  development  of  national  culture. 
He  even  determined  to  suppress  entirely  the  Italian  opera  and 
ballet,  in  order  to  foster  the  national  "song-plays,"  as  he 
called  the  German  operatic  productions.  As  a  result,  quite 
a  series  of  such  works  came  into  existence,  some  being  transla- 
tions from  the  French  and  Italian  and  others  being  written 
by  Viennese  poets  and  musicians.  Among  these  last  was 
Mozart,  who,  having  composed  many  ItaHan  ones,  cherished 
the  idea  of  writing  a  real  German  opera.  He  found  a  suitable 
libretto,  and  Die  Entfiihrung  aus  dem  Serail  (II  Seraglio)  in 
1782  was  the  result.  This  opera  received  the  enthusiastic 
applause  of  the  Viennese  public;  but,  in  spite  of  this  and  the 
fact  that  it  was  much  nearer  Emperor  Joseph's  ideas,  Mozart 
did  not  get  a  commission  for  another  opera.  The  emperor 
seems  to  have  thought  the  work  insignificant,  although  he 
recognized  its  beauty,  for  in  conversation  with  Mozart  he  said, 
''Too  beautiful,  dear  Mozart,  for  our  ears,  and  very  many 
notes,"  to  which  Mozart,  the  artist,  replied,  "Just  so  many 
notes,  your  Majesty,  as  are  necessary  ^ — no  more."  How  true 
that  is  of  everything  Mozart  wrote:  "Just  so  many  notes  as 
are  necessary,  and  no  more." 

The  venerable  Gluck,  returned  from  his  triumphs  in  France 
to  end  his  days  in  Vienna,  was  deeply  interested  in  the 
Entfiihrung,  and  at  his  request  it  was  performed  for  him 
outside  of  the  regular  opera  season.  Goethe,  who  was  inter- 
ested in  the  success  of  a  song-play  for  which  he  had  written 
the  libretto,  wrote  to  one  of  his  friends;  "Our  piece  suffered 
from  vocal  leanness;  it  mounted  no  higher  than  a  terzetto, 
and  one  would  have  given  a  great  deal  for  a  chorus  (Italian 
style).  Hence,  all  our  efforts  to  keep  within  the  simple  and 
limited  were  thrown  away  when  Mozart  appeared.  The 
Entfiihrung  struck  down  everything,  and  nothing  more  was 
said  of  our  carefully  prepared  piece. " 


opera  in  Germany  and  the  German  Opera  i8i 

The  Enifuhrung  is  as  much  a  German  opera,  as  Don  Giovanni 
and  Figaro  are  Italian,  Mozart's  genius  enabling  him  to  give 
the  character  of  each  of  these  nations  in  his  works.  The 
light  opera,  which  had  always  been  opposed  by  the  best 
litterateurs  of  Germany  as  destructive  to  culture  and  taste, 
gained,  through  his  efforts,  a  place  among  serious  musical 
art- works. 

But  still  greater  applause  aiid  encomiums  were  showered 
upon  one  of  Mozart's  brilliant  contemporaries,  Ditters  von 
Dittersdorf,  an  amateur  who  wrote  numerous  string-quartets 
very  much  in  Haydn's  style.  He  adapted  his  operas  to  the 
musical  culture  of  his  environment,  instead  of  rising  above 
it  as  Mozart  did,  and  by  means  of  melodic  richness  and 
artistic  forms,  secured  instant  popularity  and  thus  helped 
immensely  in  refining  the  national  taste.  A  number  of  minor 
composers  added  to  this  refinement,  and  prepared  the  public 
for  an  understanding  of  Mozart's  Magic  Flute,  which  may  well 
be  considered  as  opening  the  temple  of  German  operatic  art. 
It  was  the  first  real  German  opera,  employing  almost  entirely 
German  characters,  some  of  them  strictly  indigenous  to 
German  soil,  although  some  of  the  scenes  are  laid  in  Egypt. 
In  the  Entfiihrung  Mozart  had  attempted  to  improve  the  song- 
play,  but  in  The  Magic  Flute  he  gave  full  vent  to  his  inward 
artistic  demand  for  dramatic  characterization  in  whatever 
form  might  best  suit  his  purpose.  That  he  succeeded  is  seen 
in  every  measure  of  the  score,  with  the  exception  of  two  dis- 
play arias  for  the  "Queen  of  Night,"  which  he  wrote  for  his 
sister-in-law's  agile  throat.  His  German  nature,  unaffected 
by  prevalent  Italian  art-practices,  is  especially  e\ident  in  the 
characterization  of  Papageno,  the  bird-catcher,  and  in  the 
religious  ceremonials  of  the  Egyptian  priests,  which  are  said 
to  imitate  those  of  the  Free  Masons,  of  which  fraternity  he 
was  a  member.  The  popularity  of  The  Magic  Flute,  although 
more  than  one  hundred  and  twenty  years  have  passed  since 
its  first  performance,  is  greater  now  than  a  hundred  years  ago, 


i82  Familiar  Talks  on  the  History  oj  Music 

and  it  is  performed  everywhere  in  Europe,  despite  its  contrast 
to  most  modern  operas.  Beethoven  declared  that  The  Magic 
Flute  was  Mozart's  greatest  work,  "for  here  he  has  shown 
himself  a  German  master." 

As  the  art  of  dramatic  and  artistic  singing  was  the  in- 
dispensable basis  of  musical  education  until  the  close  of  the 
eighteenth  century,  Beethoven,  of  course,  studied  it  also, 
and  under  one  of  its  greatest  masters,  Salieri;  still,  it  is 
evident  in  Fidelio  (his  only  opera)  that  he  did  not  feel  bound 
by  the  vocal  instructions  of  this  teacher,  and  the  complaints 
of  "unsingableness"  uttered  during  the  rehearsals  of  his 
opera  by  the  artists  were,  in  a  measure,  well-founded.  Nor 
did  Beethoven  fully  appreciate  the  scenic  demands  of  a  well- 
staged  opera,  and,  as  he  was  very  headstrong,  and  at  first 
refused  to  listen  to  any  suggestions  of  improvements,  the 
reception  of  Fidelio  was  a  very  cool  one,  and  it  was  criticised 
as  being  "below  expectations."  The  failure  of  the  opera, 
however,  was  not  due  to  a  real  lack  of  artistic  value;  the 
political  situation  must  be  taken  into  account.  Napoleon 
and  his  army  had,  but  a  few  days  before,  driven  the  Austrian 
court  and  nobility  out  of  Vienna,  and  the  first  audience  that 
listened  to  Beethoven's  opera  was  one  composed  entirely  of 
Prench  soldiers.  The  next  year  it  was  given  again,  slightly 
altered,  with  a  little  more  success.  Then  it  remained  un- 
performed until  1814,  when  Beethoven  again  revised  it,  and 
it  was  then  better  understood  and  appreciated. 

His  genius  demanded  broader  musical  forms  than  those  of 
the  opera  of  his  day;  but  he  so  improved  the  orchestra  and 
so  masterfully  developed  its  capabilities  that  the  Romantic 
school  of  composers,  which  arose  during  his  lifetime,  was 
enabled  so  to  direct  German  opera  that  it  acquired  character- 
istics as  genuinely  national  as  those  of  French  or  Italian 
lyric  drama. 

German  opera  in  the  first  half  of  the  nineteenth  century 
reached  an  extraordinary  development,  far  beyond  its  pred- 


opera  in  Germany  and  the  German  Opera  183 

ecessors  among  other  nations,  its  special  characteristics  be- 
ing full  and  dramatic  treatment  of  the  orchestra  and  a  mode 
of  vocal  delivery  partaking  of  melody  and  recitative  in  nearly 
equal  proportions,  the  entire  object  of  the  opera  being  to 
present  a  dramatic  unity  which  should  reach  and  impress  the 
inner  consciousness  of  the  listener. 

Italian  opera  at  that  time  consisted  of  a  series  of  beautiful 
arias  and  ensemble  numbers,  mostly  held  together  by  a  thread 
of  recitative,  accompanied  by  detached  chords  marking  the 
emphatic  moments.  The  Germans  of  the  early  nineteenth 
century  greatly  improved  this  (as  the  Italians  did  later)  by  a 
recitativo  stromentato,  a  recitative  accompanied  by  a  de- 
scriptive and  sometimes  flowing  instrumental  accompaniment, 
which,  however,  differs  essentially  from  the  descriptive 
recitative  of  Handel,  Haydn,  Gluck  and  Mozart. 

The  first  of  the  German  Romantic  opera  comp>osers  was 
Carl  Maria  von  Weber  (i 786-1826),  although  Spohr  might 
be  mentioned  as  a  comparatively  weak  example.  Weber's 
father  was  an  actor  and  director  of  a  traveling  troupe  of 
Thespians,  and  a  singer  of  some  note.  The  boy's  education 
was  rather  fragmentary,  since  it  depended  upon  the  pro- 
fessional engagements  of  his  father  in  different  cities.  His 
parents  intended  him  to  be  a  pianist,  and  he  gave  concerts 
when  he  was  but  fourteen,  at  which  age  he  also  brought  out 
an  operetta  which  was  much  appreciated  in  Vienna  five  years 
later,  and  was  also  given  at  Prague,  St.  Petersburg  and  other 
cities.  At  the  age  of  eighteen,  he  became  theater  music- 
director  in  Breslau,  showing  great  talent  in  that  capacity. 
Here  he  composed  his  first  romantic  opera,  Riihezahl  (1807), 
whose  overture  is  often  played  at  popular  concerts.  In 
1813  he  was  called  to  fill  a  similar  position  at  Prague.  There 
he  brought  order  out  of  the  chaotic  condition  of  things  musical 
at  the  opera  house,  disciplining  his  orchestra  and  engaging 
new  singers  from  Vienna.  He  was  so  successful  that,  in 
1816,  he  was  called  to  Dresden,  where  he  remained  until  his 


1 84  Familiar  Talks  on  the  History  of  Music 

death  in  1826,  giving  those  masterworks  to  the  world  which 
established  German  opera  on  a  distinctly  national  basis. 
His  new  position  was  peculiar,  because  he  found  in  Dresden 
two  companies  of  singers;  one,  Italian,  which  presented 
grand  operas,  and  the  other,  German,  which  performed  Hght 
and  comic  operas.  His  operas,  which  were  conceded  to  be 
of  a  much  higher  character  than  the  best  Italian  works  of 
that  day,  gradually  reversed  this  custom.  In  182 1  he  brought 
out  Preciosa,  and  in  1822  Der  Freischiitz,  which  latter  estab- 
lished his  reputation  forever,  and  was  produced  in  Berlin 
and  other  important  cities  quite  frequently,  even  in  that 
same  year.  The  performance  of  Der  Freischiitz  created  the 
wildest  enthusiasm,  for  it  united  two  ideas  dear  to  all  Germans 
—  peasant-life  with  its  folk-song,  and  the  fairy-lore  that  is 
indigenous  to  the  soil  —  while  its  charming  music  was  quite 
original  and  also  distinctively  German. 

In  Der  Freischiitz  Weber  makes  use  of  what  we  have  since 
learned  to  call  the  Leitmotiv  (compare  Monteverde),  that  is, 
a  certain  characteristic  phrase  which  accompanies  a  certain 
dramatic  character  or  alludes  to  some  dramatic  incident,  a 
practice  apt  to  be  associated  almost  wholly  with  Wagner. 
Weber's  works  marked  the  beginning  of  a  distinct  epoch  iii 
German  opera,  as  distinct  as  that  ushered  in  by  the  Ring  des 
Xibelungen  of  Wagner,  who  speaks  of  the  tremendous  in- 
fluence they  had  on  him. 

Weber's  Euryanthe  followed  in  1823.  This  opera,  which 
in  a  way  is  the  model  of  Wagner's  Lohengrin,  was  received 
with  enthusiasm  both  in  Germany  and  Austria.  In  the 
same  year  followed  his  wonderful  fairy  opera  Oberon,  the 
first  such  work  ever  written,  and  produced  at  London  in 
1826.  But  the  strain  of  the  work  upon  him  was  too  great, 
and  he  died  in  that  same  year. 

Of  Gluck  we  have  spoken  in  connection  with  French  opera, 
because  his  greatest  works,  like  those  of  ^Meyerbeer,  were 
written   for   France   and   given   in   Paris.     One   of  Weber's 


opera  in  Germany  and  the  German  Opera  185 

greatest  immediate  successors  was  Marschner,  who  ex- 
celled in  the  presentation  of  the  unearthly  and  supernatural, 
as  may  be  seen  in  his  Hans  Heiling,  which  deals  with  the 
kobolds  of  the  mountains.  He  also  had  a  gift  for  the  delin- 
eation of  plebeian  or  comic  characters,  in  which  he  was  not 
surpassed  even  by  Weber. 

It  must  not  be  thought,  however,  that  the  new  German 
style  of  opera  was  accepted  without  criticism  or  antagonism 
by  the  adherents  and  lovers  of  Itahan  opera,  for  Weber's 
Freischiitz  was  called  the  ''most  unmusical  clatter  ever  put 
on  the  stage,"  and  resort  was  had  to  all  kinds  of  cabals  and 
intrigues  to  drive  the  Germans  out  of  the  operatic  field,  as 
Handel  had  been  driven  out  of  London  opera  houses. 

But  all  in  vain.  German  opera  had  now  achieved  an  ex- 
cellence all  its  own,  one  that  could  not  be  gainsaid  even  by 
the  ItaUans,  whose  most  prominent  composer  of  the  time, 
Rossini,  finally  recognized  its  superiority  in  his  William 
Tell.  German  opera  received  its  final  crown  through  the 
efforts  of  Richard  Wagner,  of  whom  we  shall  speak  at  an- 
other time. 


CHAPTER   XIII. 

THE   DEVELOPMENT    OF    THE   MUSIC    OF    THE    PROTESTANT 
CHURCH,  THE  PASSION  AND   THE  ORATORIO. 

In  a  preceding  chapter  we  followed  the  development  of 
Catholic  church  music  to  its  greatest  height  of  artistic  excel- 
lence at  the  hands  of  Lassus,  Palestrina  and  some  of  their 
successors,  an  indirect  result  of  the  great  Reformation.  We 
have  seen  that  the  music  of  the  Protestant  Church,  imme- 
diately after  its  stormy  birth,  consisted  largely  of  the 
Chorales,  composed  and  selected  mostly  by  Luther  and  his 
assistants,  Johann  Walther  and  Conrad  Rupf.  We  have 
also  spoken  of  the  great  Reformer's  admiration  for  polyphonic 
music,  of  its  publication  under  his  direction,  and  of  his  recom- 
mendation of  its  employment  in  religious  services,  if  sung 
by  a  choir  selected  especially  for  that  purpose.  The  Chorale, 
however,  was  the  nucleus  of  Protestant  church  music,  and 
its  popularity  invited  to  simple  harmonic  settings,  rather 
than  to  contrapuntal  profundity.  The  hymns  published  by 
Luther  and  his  helpers  became  the  foundation  of  Protestant 
church  music,  as  Plain-song  had  been  of  Catholic  church 
music. 

The  Swiss  Reformation,  under  the  leadership  of  Zwingli 
(1518)  and  Calvin,  contributed  its  share  to  the  production 
of  the  "Metrical  Psalter,"  or  versification  of  the  Psalms, 
which  were  promptly  translated  into  other  languages  and 
found  a  congenial  home  in  England,  a  country  whose  contri- 
butions to  Protestant  church  music  we  shall  now  consider. 

We  have  already  noted  the  development  of  the  folk-song 
and  popular  music  in  the  British  Isles,  and  have  spoken  of 
the  polyphonic  efforts  of  early  English  composers  (of  which 

186 


Music  of  the  Protestant  Church  187 

*'Sumer  is  icumen  in"  is  such  a  splendid  example).  An  old 
manuscript  of  approximately  the  same  date  presents  a  dance- 
tune,  of  which  we  give  one  strophe. 

58.       Old  English  Dance-Tune  of  about  1250 


Both  compositions  are  especially  interesting  in  that  they 
are  distinctly  in  the  major  key  of  F  and  not  in  one  of  the  then 
prevalent  church  modes,  proving  still  further  that  our  modem 
tonality  was  well  known  and  liked  among  the  people,  even 
though  shunned  by  the  Church. 

During  the  fourteenth  and  fifteenth  centuries  minstrelsy 
in  England  gradually  declined,  owing  to  the  suppression  of 
many  lesser  sovereignties  at  whose  courts  the  bards  had 
flourished.  That  the  practice  of  music  nevertheless  formed 
a  considerable  portion  of  the  social  life  of  the  time  is  proved 
by  contemporaneous  poetry,  which  is  full  of  its  praises. 

The  religious  unrest  which  caused  the  Reformation  in 
Germany,  Switzerland  and  France,  spread  to  England  and, 
in  1534,  resulted  in  the  abandonment  of  religious  obedience 
to  the  Papal  See,  Henry  VIII  becoming  the  head  of  a  newly 
formed  Anglican  church. 

During  his  reign  and  that  of  his  successors,  Edward  VI, 
Mary  and  Elizabeth,  church  music  underwent  a  decided  trans- 
formation, due  in  large  measure  to  an  imported  religious  sect 
called  the  Lollards,  and  their  habit  of  singing  metrical  Psalms. 

Henry  VIII  was  well  educated  in  music,  some  of  his  compo- 
sitions showing  decided  originality;  his  influence  was  strongly 
exerted  in  the  encouragement  of  musical  art. 

The  Bible  having  been  translated  into  English,  there  was 
published  in  1549  "The  Book  of  Common  Prayer,"  calling  for 


1 88  Familiar  Talks  on  the  History  of  Music 

three  varieties  of  new  musical  settings  differing  from  those  of 
the  Catholic  Church;  first,  the  chants  for  the  Priests,  with 
responses  for  the  congregation;  secondly,  canticles  (fixed 
anthems)  such  as  the  Te  Deum,  the  Jubilate  and  the  Magnifi- 
cat, for  the  choir;  and  thirdly.  Hymns  and  Anthems  other 
than  those  prescribed. 

As  a  result,  in  1550,  John  Merbecke  pubHshed  the  first 
musical  setting  of  this  Book  of  Common  Prayer,  marking  an 
epoch  in  the  history  of  English  Protestant  church  music.  Its 
preface  contains  the  following  interesting  explanation:  "In 
this  booke  is  conteyned  so  muche  of  the  Order  of  Common 
Prayer  as  it  is  to  be  sung  in  Churches,  wherein  are  used  only 

these  nil  sortes  of  notes: 

59. ^ 

The  first  is  a  sterne  note  and  is  a  breve.     The  second  is  a 

square  note  and  is  a  semi-breve.  The  III  is  a  prycke  and  is 
a  mynyme.  And  when  there  is  a  prycke  by  the  square  note, 
that  prycke  is  halfe  as  much  as  the  note  that  goeth  before  it. 

The  nil  is  a  close  and  is  only  used  at  y*  end  of  a  verse." 

In  the  Matins  and  Evensong  which  follow,  the  priest's 
part  is  very  similar  to  that  still  in  use  in  many  Cathedrals 
and  collegiate  churches,  as  are  also  the  responses,  the  Venite, 
Te  Deum,  Benedictus  and  Magnificat.  In  fact,  all  these 
canticles  in  use  in  the  Episcopal  church  to-day  are  found  in 
this  book,  the  melodies  alone  being  given.  They  are  written 
in  the  various  church  modes  and  printed  on  the  ecclesiastical 
four-line  staff  of  the  Roman  Cathohc  Church.  It  was  not 
long,  however,  before  musicians  began  to  harmonize  these 
melodies  in  four  and  five  parts,  in  contrapuntal  style,  note 
against  note. 

The  principal  church  composer  during  the  reign  of  Edward 
VI  was  Christopher  Tye,  one  of  the  best  musicians  of  the 


Music  of  the  Protestant  Church  189 

period.  The  University  of  Oxford,  where  King  Alfred  in  866 
had  established  a  chair  of  music,  conferred  upon  him  the 
degree  of  Doctor  of  Music;  and  he  was  so  esteemed  by  his 
countrymen,  that  in  an  old  play  of  the  early  seventeenth 
century  Prince  Edward,  who  was  one  of  his  pupils,  is  made 

to  say: 

England  one  God,  one  Truth,  one  Doctor  hath. 
For  Musicke's  art,  and  that  is  Doctor  Tye. 

During  the  reign  of  Queen  Mary,  the  Catholic  Latin  service 
was  temporarily  restored,  but  upon  the  accession  of  Elizabeth 
to  the  throne  it  was  entirely  abandoned,  and  thenceforth  all 
Protestant  church  services  were  held  in  the  English  tongue. 

The  Virgin  Queen  was  a  patroness  of  all  the  arts,  and  while 
she  held  the  scepter,  secular  as  well  as  sacred  music  received 
every  encouragement,  and  the  Anglican  Liturgy  as  published 
by  Merbecke  was  firmly  established.  As  he  had  noted  only 
the  melodies,  English  church  composers  now  began  to  devote 
themselves  to  the  application  of  harmony  to  these  tunes. 
In  their  seriousness  and  devotional  character  the  results  of 
their  efforts  compare  favorably  with  those  of  Palestrina, 
whose  reforms  were  inaugurated  about  the  same  time  in  Italy. 

Foremost  among  English  church  composers  in  the  last  half 
of  the  sixteenth  century  was  Thomas  Tallis  (i5i5?-i585), 
who.  strange  to  say,  wrote  for  the  Catholic  Church  as  well  as 
for  the  Anglican.  His  anthems,  in  spite  of  their  somewhat 
antiquated  style,  bear  witness  to  the  high  standards  of  the 
first  English  Protestant  composers.  His  most  stupendous 
work  is  a  Motet  for  forty  distinct  voice-parts,  which  is  de- 
scribed at  length  in  Dr.  Burney's  History  of  Music,  Vol.  III. 
The  chief  characteristics  of  his  compositions  are  grandeur  and 
devotional  solemnity,  and  some  of  them  are  still  used  in  the 
choral  services  on  great  national  or  religious  festivals. 

William  Byrd  (i 543-1623),  his  best  pupil,  became  almost 
as  famous  as  Tallis,  on  whose  style  he  founded  his  work,  a 
specimen  of  which  was  presented  in  a  previous  chapter. 


190  Familiar  Talks  on  the  History  of  Music 

Another  English  master  of  the  period  mentioned  was 
Thomas  Morley  (1557-1603),  a  pupil  of  Byrd.  He  was  the 
first  in  some  of  whose  anthems  solo  voices  appear.  His 
Madrigal  "Now  is  the  month  of  maying"  is  still  sung  quite 
frequently. 

The  taste  for  singing  metrical  versions  of  the  Psalms,  that 
had  arisen  in  Germany,  Switzerland  and  France,  spread  to 
England  during  the  reign  of  Elizabeth,  and  to  such  a  degree 
that  a  royal  decree  was  invoked  and  obtained,  confining  its 
practice  to  periods  anterior  and  posterior  to  the  regular 
church  services.  The  first  complete  edition  of  the  versified 
Psalms  in  Enghsh  had  been  published  in  1562,  accompanied 
by  melodies  called  "the  church  tunes,"  whose  origin  is  un- 
certain. Shortly  afterwards  these  reappeared,  harmonized 
in  four  parts,  under  the  title  "The  Whole  Psalmes  in  foure 
parts,  which  may  be  song  to  al  musicall  instruments,  set 
forth  for  the  encrease  of  vertue,  and  abolishyng  of  other 
vayne  and  trifiyng  ballads."  This  work  was  intended  for 
private  and  not  for  church  use,  and  was  succeeded  by  several 
similar  ones,  the  most  important  of  which  was  brought  out 
by  Thomas  Este  in  1592.  The  title-page  of  this  volume  ex- 
plains its  purpose  as  follows:  "The  Whole  Booke  of  Psalmes: 
with  their  wonted  Tunes,  as  they  are  song  in  Churches,  com- 
posed into  foure  parts:  All  which  are  so  placed  that  foure 
may  sing  ech  one  a  seueral  part  in  this  booke.  Wherein  the 
Church  tunes  are  carefully  corrected,  and  thereunto  added 
other  short  tunes  usually  song  in  London  and  other  places 
of  this  Realme.  With  a  table  in  the  end  of  the  booke  of  such 
tunes  as  are  newly  added,  with  the  number  of  ech  Psalme 
placed  to  the  said  Tune.  Compiled  by  sondry  avthors,  who 
haue  so  laboured  herein,  that  the  unskilfull  with  small  practice 
may  attayne  to  sing  that  part,  which  is  fittest  for  their 
voyce."  In  this  work,  hymn-tunes  are  first  named  after 
places,  and  the  melody  is  again  given  to  tenor  instead  of 
soprano  voices. 


Music  of  the  Protestant  Church  191 

During  the  first  twenty-five  years  of  the  reign  of  James  I, 
Elizabeth's  successor,  English  church  music  made  small 
progress,  although  several  new  composers  appeared  upon  the 
scene,  among  whom  is  especially  to  be  noted  that  scion  o? 
an  exceedingly  talented,  musical  family,  Orlando  Gibbons 
(1583-1625).  His  church  anthems  exhibit  such  a  style  and 
excellence,  that  his  countrymen  called  him  the  English 
Palestrina,  a  title  which  perhaps  might  have  become  uni- 
versal had  he  lived  longer.  His  anthem  "Hosanna  to  the 
Son  of  David,"  and  his  madrigal  "The  Silver  Swan,"  are  ex- 
cellent specimens  of  his  work,  the  latter  being  easily  obtain- 
able. One  of  his  contemporaries,  John  Bull  (1562-1628), 
added  but  little  to  the  treasury  of  Protestant  church  music, 
although  he  was  such  a  skilled  contrapuntist  and  organist 
that  he  was  called  to  Antwerp  in  16 17  to  take  charge  of  the 
music  in  that  great  city,  where  he  remained  until  his  death. 
He  was  one  of  the  three  English  musicians  who  contributed 
to  the  first  collection  of  compositions  for  the  virginal  called 
"Parthenia." 

During  the  reign  of  Charles  I  and  the  protectorate  of 
Cromwell  —  in  fact,  after  the  death  of  Orlando  Gibbons  — 
Protestant  church  music  in  England  gradually  degenerated  and 
was  finally  almost  suppressed.  Musical  art,  however,  found 
a  new  avenue  for  development  in  the  Masque  (or  Mask),  a 
play  with  incidental  music,  of  which  Milton's  "Comus"  is 
an  excellent  example.  On  its  native  heath,  France,  the 
Masque  was,  as  we  have  seen,  the  very  plant  whose  blossom 
was  the  early  French  opera. 

The  results  of  Luther's  influence  upon  Protestant  church 
music  in  Germany  are  seen  in  the  numerous  collections  of 
hymns  and  versified  Psalms  which  appeared  in  the  years 
immediately  following  his  death.  Among  the  most  impor- 
tant masters  who  wrote  new  church  music  in  Germanv, 
was  Seth  Kallwitz  (Sethus  Calvisius),  a  self-taught  musician 
of  striking  individuality,   the  first  of  the  great   cantors  of 


192  Familiar  Talks  on  the  History  of  Music 

Leipzig's  celebrated  St.  Thomas'  church,  made  so  famous 
by  Bach.  The  fact  that  some  of  his  collections  ran  through 
several  editions,  is  the  best  evidence  of  their  popularity.  A 
number  of  other  German  musicians  enriched  the  Protes- 
tant services  by  similar  settings  of  the  Psalms  and  Motets 
and  sacred  songs,  but  what  particularly  interests  us  are 
the  musical  interpretations  of  the  Passion  of  Christ  as 
set  forth  in  the  Gospels,  a  direct  outgrowth  of  Luther's 
efforts  and  a  splendid  addition  to  the  music  of  the  Protestant 
Church. 

We  have  already  described  the  rise  of  the  Oratorio  as  a 
form  of  religious  service.  The  story  of  Christ's  death  and 
sufferings,  which  we  call  "the  Passion,"  has  always  appealed 
to  the  dramatic  instincts  of  mankind,  and  especially  to 
Christians,  of  whose  faith  it  is  the  very  foundation.  We 
have  seen  how  the  Passion,  as  well  as  the  sufferings  of  the 
Virgin-Mother,  were  enacted  in  the  Middle  Ages,  at  first 
exclusively  by  the  priesthood,  and  later  with  the  assistance 
of  the  congregation,  but  always  under  the  guidance  of  the 
Church.  W^e  shall  now  see  how  the  same  inherent  dramatico- 
religious  demand  of  the  people  was  gratified  by  Protestant 
composers  in  their  musical  settings  of  the  Passion,  the  be- 
ginnings of  German  Oratorio,  which  was  to  find  its  greatest 
exponents  in  Handel  and  Bach. 

Among  the  first  of  these  is  Joachim  von  Burck,  who  wrote 
five  Passions,  two  according  to  St.  Luke  and  one  according  to 
each  of  the  other  Evangelists.  Another  was  Nikolaus  Sel- 
necker,  whose  Passion  music  is  already  distinctive  and  unique 
in  that  the  words  of  the  Apostles  as  well  as  those  of  the  angry 
mob  are  set  for  four  voices,  sometimes  in  the  form  of  a  chant, 
at  others  in  that  of  a  chorale.  The  treatment  of  the  text  of 
the  Passion  varied  with  succeeding  composers,  according  to 
their  individuality;  the  one  by  Gesius,  published  at  Witten- 
berg in  1583,  being  quite  dramatic  in  character.  Its  opening 
five-part  chorus  consisted  of  an  appeal  to  "pious  Christians," 


Music  of  the  Protestant  Church  193 

having  for  its  text  the  words,  ''Lift  ye  your  hearts  to  God 
and  listen  to  the  sufferings  of  your  Lord,  Jesus  Christ,  as 
described  by  St.  John."  In  this  work  the  gospel  is  intoned 
throughout  by  a  tenor  voice,  while  the  words  of  Christ  are 
set  for  a  four-part  chorus.  Peter  and  Pilate  are  each  repre- 
sented by  a  three-part  chorus  of  women's  voices,  and  the 
shouts  of  the  multitude  by  a  five-part  chorus.  One  of  the 
last  Evangelical  composers  whose  works  show  the  strong 
influence  of  Luther's  musical  as  well  as  reUgious  doctrines,  was 
Joharmes  Eccard  (1553-1611),  a  pupil  of  Orlando  di  Lasso. 
His  most  important  work  is  "A  Collection  of  Fifty-five 
Sacred  Melodies  for  Feast-days  and  Holy-days,  including 
Psalms  and  other  Hymn-tunes,"  which  is  full  of  musical 
jewels  in  the  melodic  form  of  the  Chorale,  harmonized  in  so 
simple  a  manner,  with  so  little  motion  in  the  accompanying 
voices,  that  they  were  easy  of  performance  by  the  musical 
laity,  and  therefore  a  welcome  addition  to  Protestant  church 
music.  He  also  composed  a  number  of  "Prussian  Festival 
Songs  for  the  whole  year,  for  five,  six,  seven  and  eight 
voices,"  whose  form  is  new,  as  it  lies  between  the  Motet  and 
the  song. 

The  influence  of  the  Passion  form  of  musical  service  was 
so  great,  that  even  Catholic  writers,  such  as  Scandelius,- 
began  to  write  Passion  music  to  German  texts.  In  his  setting 
the  Gospel  story,  as  told  by  the  Evangelist,  is  given  in  a 
flowing  recitative,  and  while  Christ  and  the  mob  are  repre- 
sented by  a  four-part  choir,  the  words  of  all  the  other  person- 
ages are  uttered  by  a  three-part  choir. 

Most  musical  writings  during  the  last  half  of  the  sixteenth 
century  were  in  simple  counterpoint,  note  against  note;  but 
towards  its  close  polyphonic  accompaniment  seems  to  desert 
the  melody  of  the  chorale,  and  seeks  a  new  field  in  the  world  of 
composition,  a  departure  for  which  the  many  improvements 
in  the  Church  organs,  and  the  skill  of  the  organists,  were 
undoubtedly  responsible. 


194  Familiar  Talks  on  the  History  of  Music 

We  have  spoken  in  a  previous  chapter  of  the  gradual 
assumption  of  supremacy  in  the  musical  world  by  the  Italians 
over  the  Netherlanders,  and  have  mentioned  the  constant 
migration  of  musicians  from  Germany  and  even  from  the 
Netherlands  to  Italy  for  study  under  the  masters  of  that 
country.  This  was  in  a  measure  due  to  a  recognition  of  the 
superior  beauty  and  euphony  of  the  compositions  of  Pale- 
strina,  who  united  in  his  works  the  contrapuntal  mastery  of 
the  Netherlanders  with  the  melodic  beauty  of  the  Italians.  A 
number  of  the  younger  German  musicians  went  to  Venice 
and  studied  under  the  Gabrielis,  of  whom  we  have  spoken. 
Among  them  we  should  notice  Hans  Leo  Hassler  (1564-16 12), 
whose  contrapuntal  compositions  combine,  in  melody  and 
tone-color,  the  highest  and  most  beautiful  that  German  and 
Italian  art  of  that  time  could  produce,  and  who  later  made 
his  home  in  Nuremberg. 

Other  young  musicians  went  to  Rome,  attracted  by  the 
fame  of  Carissimi  and  Frescobaldi.  Prominent  among  them 
was  Jacob  Froberger,  a  superb  organist  and  musician,  the 
first  to  use  the  five-line  staff,  with  the  C,  G,  and  F  clefs. 

The  most  notable  German  masters  in  the  latter  part  of 
the  sixteenth  and  the  first  half  of  the  seventeenth  century 
were  Michael  Praetorius,  Heinrich  Schiitz  and  Jacob  Fux. 
These  three,  more  than  any  others  of  that  period,  possessed 
the  artistic  comprehensiveness  which  enabled  them  to  act  as 
mediators  between  the  musical  culture  of  Germany  and  that 
of  Italy,  and  to  fuse  the  different  art-styles  and  forms  of  these 
countries  into  one. 

Praetorius  (1571-1621)  was  a  thoroughly  equipped  musician, 
a  master  of  every  style  then  known,  and  a  distinguished 
writer  on  the  history  and  theory  of  music.  His  "Syntagma 
Musicum"  (in  three  volumes,  published  about  1615)  is  a 
complete  encyclopedia  of  music  and  the  musical  instruments 
of  his  time,  giving  us  an  accurate  idea  of  the  various  musical 
instruments  of  the  day  and  their  construction,  as  well  as  of 


Music  of  the  Protestant  Church  195 

the  fusion  of  some  instruments  of  similar  character  into  one. 
In  the  third  volume  he  mentions  the  "new  style  and  manner 
of  Italian  music,"  "  nuove  musiche,"  proving  that  he  was  ac- 
quainted with  the  inventions  of  Peri,  Caccini,  Monteverde 
and  Carissimi.  He  even  speaks  of  ''figured  bass"  as  "a  new 
Italian  scientific  invention,  of  great  value  to  chapel-masters, 
directors,  cantors,  organists  and  lutists,  which  is  now  coming 
into  use  in  Germany."  In  another  place  he  confesses  his 
''humble  efforts  to  imitate  the  Italians"  in  his  a  cappella 
compositions  for  two  and  three  choirs  with  an  occasional 
orchestral  accompaniment  in  the  style  of  the  Gabrielis.  In 
his  "songs  in  concert  style"  he  employs  the  florid  style  of 
writing  used  by  Caccini,  and  deliberately  states  that  the 
songs  "  are  composed  in  the  present  Italian  manner."  He 
devoted  himself  equally  to  compositions  in  the  Italian  style, 
and  to  the  Evangelical  music  of  the  Protestant  Church,  of 
which  he  was  a  devout  member. 

Heinrich  Schiitz  (i 585-1672)  was  also  equally  at  home 
in  the  music  of  the  Catholic  and  Protestant  churches,  and 
was  an  even  greater  musician  than  Praetorius,  for  his  works 
stamp  him  as  a  direct  precursor  of  Bach  and  Handel.  His 
admiration  for  his  teacher  Giovanni  Gabrieli,  with  whom  he 
studied  in  Venice,  at  the  time  of  Monteverde's  first  opera, 
was  mentioned  in  a  previous  chapter.  After  Gabrieli's  death, 
Schiitz  went  to  Dresden,  where  he  remained  several  years 
as  chapel-master  to  John  George  I,  Elector  of  Saxony.  We 
have  already  spoken  of  his  work  on  what  was  really  the  first 
German  opera,  a  translation  of  Peri's  Daphne,  written  at 
the  order  of  his  princely  employer.  Schiitz.  however,  was 
essentially  a  church  composer,  who  combined  in  his  musical 
utterances  the  devotional  simplicity  of  Palestrina,  the  tone- 
coloring  of  the  Gabrielis,  and  the  serious,  pithy  expression  of 
the  Protestant  Church.  He  introduced  into  Germany  the 
form  of  the  "Symphoniae  sacrae"  of  his  master,  among  which 
must  be  mentioned  the  one  dealing  with  the  conversion  of 


196 


Familiar  Talks  on  the  History  of  Music 


Saul  upon  his  way  to  Damascus,  a  vividly  dramatic  compo- 
sition written  for  fourteen  voices,  accompanied  by  violini 
divisi  and  organ,  which  lend  a  mysterious  coloring.  In 
middle  hfe  he  began  to  assert  his  individuality  more  strongly, 
in  the  combination  of  already  existing  forms  of  musical  expres- 
sion and  the  invention  of  new  ones,  as  illustrated  by  his  three 
greatest  works,  "The  Story  of  the  Resurrection,"  "The  Last 
Seven  Words,"  and  "The  Four  Passions  according  to  the  four 
Evangehsts."  In  the  first  of  these  works,  the  various  BibUcal 
personages  express  themselves  in  an  ensemble  of  two  or 
three  voices;  the  part  of  the  Narrator,  given  to  a  solo  voite, 
having  the  character  of  Psalmodic  improvisation,  with  pauses 
during  which  there  are  evident  attempts  at  musical  descrip- 
tion by  the  accompanying  instruments.  We  present  the 
angels'  questioning  of  the  holy  women  at  the  tomb  as  a  fine 
example  of  colorful  expression  by  the  composer. 


60.       Scene  at  the  grave.     Query  of  the  Angels. 

From  "  The  Resurrection,"  by  SCHUTZ 

Wo    -    man.why  weep    --------        est  thou  ? 


In  the  following  excerpt  is  voiced  the  despair  of  the  two 
Marys  at  finding  the  Saviour's  tomb  empty. 


61.       The  two  Marys. 


Jt=d^q 


They've  tak  -  en   my    Lord  .  .     a  -  way, 


they've  tak  -  en    my 


5BE 


-^ 


Music  of  the  Protestant  Church 


197 


Lord  .  .     a  -  way, 


and  I  know  not  where  the  place,and  I 


know      not      where      the       place,    where      they 

-A ^- 


X- 


z^-- 


-> M 


have    laid 


Him. 


^^^ 


know   not   where   the    place,  where   they    have     laid 


Him. 


In  "The  Seven  Last  Words,"  the  utterances  of  Christ  are 
delivered  by  a  single  voice,  a  baritone,  and  not  in  recitative 
but  in  an  aria,  whose  form  was  adopted  by  Bach  in  the  fol- 
lowing century.  The  organ  accompanies  the  expressions  of 
all  the  actors  in  the  drama  except  those  of  Christ,  which  are 
supported  by  a  quartet  of  strings  in  the  higher  register,  fur- 
nishing a  sort  of  divine  halo,  an  effect  also  imitated  by  Bach. 
Here  we  find  a  prophecy  of  the  future  Passion  text,  the 
gospel  history  being  in  dramatic  form  and  the  Church's  re- 
flection in  the  opening  and  closing  choruses.  The  following 
quotation  is  from  the  introduction  to  this  work,  and  has  the 
character  of  a  song  of  deepest  sorrow,  thus  preparing  for  the 
great  drama  which  is  to  follow. 

62.       Introduction  to  "The  Seven  Last  Words" 

By  Heinrich  Schutz 

W?^— Ntc. 


'!#- 


T' 


T" 


His  musical  setting  of  the  Saviour's  last  words  is  equally 
expressive,  and  shows  the  composer's  dramatic  instinct. 


63. 


■  *.  -iS-     .«. 


E    -    li,      E    -    li,      E   -    li,     la  -   ma 


bach  -  ta    •   ni .' 


igS  Familiar  Talks  on  the  History  of  Music 

His  third  great  work,  mentioned  above,  is  a  masterpiece  in 
every  respect.  Although  in  these  settings  of  the  Passion  he 
abandons  solo  work  and  returns  to  the  earlier  forms  of 
ensemble  utterance  for  individual  expression,  his  incidental 
choruses  are  full  of  varied  emotions,  being  sometimes  vehe- 
ment, at  others  passionate  or  emotional,  and  always  dramatic. 
From  these  works  it  is  evident  that  many  of  Bach's  finest 
choral  effects  were  really  invented  by  Schiitz. 

The  third  of  the  prominent  German  musicians  who  labored 
for  a  union  of  what  was  best  in  both  Italian  and  German 
religious  music,  was  Johann  Joseph  Fux  (1660-17 14),  ^ 
learned  theorist  best  known  as  the  author  of  a  treatise  on 
counterpoint  entitled  "Gradus  ad  Parnassum."  This  work 
was  written  in  excellent  Latin,  and  is  especially  interesting 
in  that  it  contains  a  clear  and  distinct  exposition  of  the 
fugue  in  two  or  more  parts,  as  distinguished  from  the  older 
form  of  the  canon. 

When  remarking  on  the  degeneration  of  Italian  opera 
during  the  latter  part  of  the  seventeenth  century,  we  also 
mentioned  the  rise  of  exuberant,  melodic  ornamentation  by 
composers  and  singers,  regardless  of  the  text.  This  same 
ornamentation  now  enters  the  Protestant  church  service,  and 
gradually  supersedes  the  simpler  but  more  effective  style, 
influenced,  no  doubt,  by  the  predominance  of  Italian  opera. 
The  smaller  German  courts  patronized  only  Italian  music; 
so  German  musicians  began  to  write  in  the  decadent  Italian 
style. 

During  the  hfe  of  Schiitz  two  church  cantors,  Vulpius  of 
Weimar  and  Schultz  of  Delitsch,  each  wrote  a  ''Passion," 
of  which  we  must  take  note  on  account  of  their  highly 
dramatic  choral  handling.  We  cannot  refrain  from  quot- 
ing a  few  excerpts  which  will  show  how  fine  were  the 
effects  of  composers  of  the  Passion,  before  the  mighty 
genius  of  Bach  clothed  the  musical  settings  with  the  greatest 
majesty. 


Music  of  the  Protestant  Church 


199 


The  following  is  the  frivolous  declamatory  utterance  of  the 
high  priests  and  elders: 


64. 


From  the  "  Passion ' 

-0- 


By  VuLPius 


1- r^=^- 


— r — r- 

That       is       not     our     af  -  fair,  that      is      your   prob  -  lem ! 


-^■-^a 


i^p=ti 


We  notice   also   the  naively  interrogative   question  of   the 
Sanhedrin : 


65. 


-3  hiltl — 1 

— » — » — 

1 

-J^l 

1 

j# — 

/7\ 

Art 

•        m 

-•-7 



^   1       1 

thou  Je  - 

ho 



vah's 

^ 

Son? 
r^ — R 

The  almost  fanatically  rhythmic  utterance  of  the  mob  on 
the  words  "Crucify!  crucify!"  is  another  fine  example  which 
already  foreshadows  the  choral  dramatic  action  of  Handel's 
Oratorios. 


66. 


From  the  "  Passion  ' 


By  ScHULTZ 


_„ — C — p — s — <  —• — '^^r:  —  - — ^  —I M — <  — ' — c^_  jp — , ■  —  <  — ^-L D 


Cru-ci  -  fy,  cru  -ci  -  fy,    cru  -  ci-fy  him!  Cru-ci-fy,  cru-  ci  -fy,  cru  -  ci  -  fy  him  I 


■^  la  :-^ 


This  is  also  to  be  noted  in  the  more  cold-blooded  "Away 
with  him!"  that  follows: 


200  Familiar  Talks  on  the  History  of  Music 


67.       From  the  "  Passion  " 

1ST   DiSCANT 

• 

A  -  way,  a  -  way,  a       -       way  with  him, 

2D   DiSCANT 


By  SCHULTZ 


^E^ 


dri 


A  -  way,    a  -  way. 


way  with  him, 


=^~3^- 


!i 


A  -  way,    a  -  way, 
1ST  Tenor 


a  -  way,    a  -  way  with 


m 


~-w       v> F- 


A    -     way,   a  -  way, 
2D  Tenor 


a  -  way,  a  -  way  with 


'•^=f       "r=!*- 


A 
Bass 


way,    a  -  way, 


a  -  way,  a  - 


-V \i^ 


\^       ^- 


way,    a  -  way, 


way,   a  -  way. 


-'^ — t^^?i — »»~    I        ^ — a» 


a-way  with  this  man,and  set  thou      Bar  -  ra-bas      free  ! 


-^ — m — « — m.- 


i5f=>=t= 


a-way  with  this  man,and  set  thou     Bar  -  ra  -  bas 


free ! 


him,  a-way  with  him,away  with  this  man, and  set  thou      Bar  -  ra-  bas 


-^ — «<• — ^- 


free ! 


him,  a-way  with  him,a-way  with  this  man,       and  set  thou  Bar-ra-  bas      free  I 


~X- — >. — ^ — >- 


way       with      him,  a-way  with  this  man.and  set  thou      Bar -ra-bas      free! 


a-way  with  him,away  with  this  man,      and  set  thou  Bar-ra  -  bas   free ! 


Music  of  the  Protestant  Church 


20I 


Another  noted  German  composer,  by  the  form  and  character 
of  whose  works  Bach  undoubtedly  profited,  was  Johann 
Sebastiani,  whose  ''Matthew  Passion"  appeared  in  1672,  the 
year  of  Schiitz's  death.  In  this  work  the  form  of  Oratorio 
becomes  at  least  as  well  suited  to  the  concert-hall  as  to  the 
church,  with  the  preponderance  in  favor  of  the  former  style, 
for  the  church  song  is  now  used  more  like  an  aria  in  Italian 
Opera  than  like  a  congregational  hymn,  being  written  for  a 
solo  soprano  and  accompanied  by  strings  and  organ. 

The  part  of  Christ,  written  for  a  bass  voice,  in  the  style 
of  earlier  Italian  opera,  is  suggestive  of  Schlitz,  and  equally 
characteristic,  being  also  accompanied  by  the  strings,  some- 
thing that  does  not  occur  with  the  other  solo  voices. 

The  Choruses  are  simple,  direct  and  terse  in  utterance,  as 
can  be  seen  from  the  following  quotation: 


68. 


From  the  "  Passion  " 


By  Sebastiani 


His      blood 


be 


up 


His  blood      be 

His        blood  be 


'r 


m^5 


up    -    on 

up      -     on 


MEz 


i^iii 


1^ 


and 


-f_ 


His 


blood       be 


and 


chil 


chil 


dren  I 


dren, 


chil 


dren  I 


The  introduction  to  this  work,  written  for  three  violas  and 
'cellos,  has  the  character  of  a  hymn  and  leads  directly  into 
the  opening  chorus. 


202  Familiar  Talks  on  the  History  of  Music 


69.       Introduction  to  the  "  Passion  " 


By  Sebastiani 


i'^—t— 


J-. I 


J.  -^  -i 


T--' — r- 


tit; 


A^^ 


i=^^ 


-F*-- 


F=^=T--=^= 


--*- — i- 
.t  tj-^ ^^^.^^ ^^__ 


r 


:t:g==?=t 


r.=^i:== 


.bi^-J-J- 


fe 


=^=te 


-iS"-       -■S'-. 


■^s=^-i. 


^'TT 


1^^     ^ 


zz— zridgEE^— zsJgg 


J=>^^\ 


«S= 


p-g — r 


r 


-J—. 


The  efforts  of  many  subsequent  Protestant  church  com- 
posers were,  as  remarked  in  a  previous  chapter,  expressed 
in  the  direction  of  sacred  opera,  the  sublime  heights  of  the 
Oratorio  being  reached  finally  by  Bach  and  Handel. 


CHAPTER   XIV. 

BACH  AND   HANDEL. 

We  have  seen  the  supremacy  of  musical  leadership  wander 
from  France  to  Belgium  in  the  14th  century,  from  there  to 
the  Netherlands  in  the  15th  and  i6th  centuries,  thence  to 
Italy  during  the  latter  part  of  the  i6th  century  and  the  early 
part  of  the  17th,  the  Netherlanders  being  the  missionary 
teachers  of  the  musical  world  of  that  day.  We  have  seen, 
further,  how  Netherlanders  and  Germans  visited  Italy  to 
study  with  Italian  masters,  and  have  observed  the  efforts  of 
great  German  musicians,  upon  their  return  to  their  native 
land,  in  the  direction  of  combining  the  melodic,  euphonic, 
colorful  style  of  the  Italian  masters  with  the  contrapuntal 
style  of  the  Netherlanders,  to  create  a  choral  music  intended 
chiefly  for  the  services  of  the  Protestant  Church. 

In  spite  of  fierce  wars  which  devastated  Germany,  during 
which  all  other  arts  suffered  terribly,  music  actually  advanced 
in  its  development  of  truly  human  expression.  The  wealth 
of  folk-song  and  church  music,  including  the  Passion,  then 
acquired  by  Germany,  is  still  one  of  its  greatest  treasures; 
and  polyphonic  art,  which  had  so  sadly  declined  in  Italy, 
found  a  new  opportunity  for  development  and  growth  at  the 
hands  of  the  great  German  organists. 

The  time  was  now  ripe  for  the  arrival  of  two  great  musical 
geniuses,  not  only  the  greatest  in  Germany  but  in  the  world 
of  that  day,  Bach  and  Handel. 

WTiile  it  is  in  no  sense  our  purpose  to  present  a  detailed 
biography  of  these  two  great  masters  (this  having  been  done 
in  the  fullest  and  most  interesting  manner  by  Spitta  and 
Chrysander),   the   character   of   their  principal   works  is   so 

^03 


204  Familiar  Talks  on  the  History  of  Music 

much  the  result  of  the  circumstances  under  which  they  lived., 
that  some  biographical  data  seem  necessary. 

Johann  Sebastian  Bach  was  born  on  March  21,  1685,  at 
Eisenach.  His  ancestors  for  more  than  a  century  and  a 
half  had  been  musicians,  some  of  them  church  organists, 
others,  "town  musicians,"  of  which  class  of  players  more  than 
one  Bach  became  the  leader,  the  numerous  members  of  the 
Bach  family  nearly  monopolizing  the  musical  positions  in 
many  towns  of  Thuringia  during  nearly  a  century.  Johann 
Sebastian  lost  his  parents  before  he  reached  the  age  of  ten. 
His  elder  brother,  Christopher,  also  a  musician,  took  care  of 
him,  and  gave  him  his  first  instruction  in  the  elements  of 
music.  Even  as  a  youth,  the  future  master  showed  his  great 
love  for  the  art  of  which  he  was  to  be  such  a  shining  light, 
by  copying  surreptitiously,  by  moonhght,  a  number  of  com- 
positions which  his  brother  deemed  a  treasure  as  yet  be- 
yond the  boy's  understanding.  For  nearly  six  months  he 
labored  thus,  only  to  be  discovered  when  his  work  was  almost 
completed,  and  to  have  his  treasure  taken  from  him.  The 
blindness  with  which  he  was  later  afflicted  has  been  attributed 
to  this  episode  of  his  boyhood.  As  Christopher  Bach  was 
very  poor,  and  like  all  the  Bachs  the  father  of  an  ever- 
increasing  family,  Johann  Sebastian  was  sent  to  the  convent 
school  at  Liineburg,  where  his  fine  soprano  voice  secured 
him  free  tuition  which  included  thorough  teaching  in  Latin, 
together  with  instruction  on  the  violin  and  organ.  He  soon 
made  himself  acquainted  with  the  musical  treasures  to  be 
found  in  the  school  Hbrary,  and  thirsted  for  more.  With  his 
credentials  for  entrance  to  the  University,  he  left  Liineburg 
and  wandered  for  some  time  from  town  to  town,  visiting 
Hamburg,  where  he  profited  much  from  the  organ  recitals 
of  Adam  Reinken,  and  obtaining  temporary  employment 
here  and  there  as  a  violinist,  until  at  the  age  of  eighteen  he 
arrived  at  Arnstadt,  where  he  secured  the  position  of  church 
organist. 


Bach  and  Handel  205 


The  Wanderlust  compelled  him  to  ask  for  temporary  vaca- 
tions, which  were  sometimes  obtained  with  difficulty,  as  he 
had  a  habit  of  forgetting  his  duties  in  the  pleasures  derived 
from  hearing  Reinken  at  Hamburg,  and  Buxtehude,  the 
Danish  organist  at  Lubeck,  in  recitals,  as  well  as  in  listening 
to  Suites  and  other  compositions  of  French  masters.  Upon 
his  return  to  Amstadt,  he  usually  received  severe  rebukes 
for  his  prolonged  absences;  he  was  also  repeatedly  repri- 
manded for  "interspersing  the  chorales  with  many  strange 
variations  and  tones,  to  the  confusion  of  the  congregation." 
This  evidence  of  his  youthful  desire  for  the  contrapuntal  em- 
bellishment of  the  chorales  with  their  interludes,  was  only  a 
token  of  his  artistic  instincts.  Shortly  afterward,  in  1707,  he 
accepted  with  joy  the  appointment  of  organist  at  Miihlhau- 
sen,  which  offered  a  better  salary  and  thus  enabled  him  to 
marry  his  cousin,  Barbara.  Of  their  seven  children,  two. 
Friedemann  and  Philipp  Emanuel,  became  well-known  mu- 
sicians. From  Miihlhausen,  where  he  remained  but  one  year, 
he  went  to  Weimar  to  accept  the  position  of  court  orgam'st 
and  concert-master.  During  his  stay  of  nine  years  in  this 
city,  in  the  early  part  of  his  married  life,  he  wrote  for  the 
court  chapel  a  number  of  his  masterworks  of  which  the 
cantata  ''Actus  tragicus,"  known  under  the  title  "God's  own 
time  is  best,"  is  perhaps  the  greatest. 

While  in  the  service  of  the  Duke  of  Weimar,  he  studied 
most  earnestly  the  works  of  Palestrina  and  others,  and  ar- 
ranged the  violin  concertos  of  Vivaldi  for  harpsichord  and 
organ.  His  fame  as  an  organist  dates  from  this  period,  and 
was  so  great  that  a  contest  in  improvisation  on  the  organ 
between  him  and  the  French  organist,  Marchand,  was  ar- 
ranged by  Dresden  music-lovers.  Bach  accepted  the  chal- 
lenge and  appeared  at  the  hour  appointed,  only  to  learn 
that  the  Frenchman  had  departed  on  that  very  morning. 

Bach  then  journeyed  to  Cothen,  where  in  the  meantime  he 
had  been  appointed  chapel-master  to  Prince  Leopold,  who  paid 


2o6  Familiar  Talks  on  the  History  of  Music 

him  a  salary  sufiEicient  for  his  wants  and  also  encouraged  him 
in  his  studies  of  the  works  of  the  masters.  To  please  his 
patron  Bach  wrote,  among  other  orchestral  pieces,  the  six 
famous  Brandenburg  Concertos  for  the  court  orchestra,  be- 
sides many  other  concertos,  and  church  music  for  various 
instruments.  During  his  stay  at  Cothen  he  also  composed 
the  "French  Suites,"  the  "Inventions,"  and  the  first  part  of 
the  "Wohltemperirtes  Clavier,"  whose  first  edition  bore  the 
curious  title  "Preludes  and  Fugues  in  all  tones  and  semi- 
tones, i.e.,  in  major  thirds  Do,  Re,  Mi,  and  minor  thirds  Re, 
Mi,  Fa,  for  the  advantage  and  use  of  musical  youths  desirous 
of  study,  as  well  as  for  the  pastime  of  those  who  have  already 
acquired  some  skill,  composed  and  noted  down  by  Johann 
Sebastian  Bach,  chapel-master  and  director  of  chamber  music 
to  the  Prince  of  Anhalt-Cothen,  anno  1722."  The  second 
part  of  this  work  was  not  completed  until  1744. 

Bach  was  in  such  favor  with  his  employer  that  he  often 
went  with  him  on  his  travels.  During  one  of  these  absences, 
Bach's  wife  died  and  was  buried  before  his  return.  Almost 
two  years  thereafter  he  married  a  well-known  soprano,  the 
daughter  of  one  of  the  court  musicians.  For  her  he  wrote 
some  of  his  easier  instrumental  pieces  and  songs,  and  she  later 
assisted  him  in  the  copying  of  corrected  manuscripts,  some  of 
which  are  now  in  the  Royal  Library  at  Berlin,  one  of  them 
bearing  the  inscription  "ecrite  par  Mme.  Bach,  son  epouse." 

From  a  letter  to  one  of  his  school  friends,  written  in  1730, 
we  learn  the  reason  for  his  leaving  Cothen  and  for  his  accept- 
ance of  the  appointment  as  cantor  in  the  St.  Thomas'  school 
at  Leipzig  in  1723.  In  this  letter  he  declares  his  affection  for 
his  princely  employer,  whose  graciousness  and  love  for  music 
he  praises,  and  with  whom  he  would  gladly  have  remained, 
had  not  his  marriage  with  a  princess  who  delighted  in  worldly 
pleasures  gradually  led  the  husband  away  from  his  interest 
in  serious  music.  He  says,  further,  "And  so  God  arranged 
it  that  the  post  of  cantor  at  St.  Thomas'  should  become 


Bach  and  Handel  207 


vacant.  At  first,  I  thought  it  unbecoming  to  relinquish  the 
dignified  position  for  that  offered  to  me,  and  therefore  con- 
sidered it  for  three  months,  but  was  at  last  induced  to  accept, 
as  my  sons  were  inclined  to  be  studious,  and  I  was  desirous 
of  giving  them  an  opportunity  to  gratify  this  inclination  by 
entering  them  into  school;  and  so,  in  the  name  of  the  Most 
High,  I  ventured  and  came  to  Leipzig." 

The  salary  attached  to  his  new  position  was  much  smaller 
than  that  received  at  court,  and  the  bickerings  with  the 
Church  authorities  that  had  embittered  his  earlier  life  at 
Arnstadt  were  now  renewed,  although  the  criticisms  made  at 
this  time  were  not  of  his  incapacity  or  lack  of  musicianship, 
but  rather  of  his  unsatisfactory  services  as  teacher  of  the 
choir-boys  and  general  servant  of  the  church.  Because  of  the 
needs  of  his  family,  he  eked  out  his  income  by  giving  music- 
lessons  to  various  persons  of  means  but  no  ability,  and  by 
playing  at  funerals,  for  which  he  received  extra  compensa- 
tion. In  the  letter  already  quoted,  he  speaks  of  this:  "When 
funerals  are  numerous  I  gain  more,  but  'if  the  air  be  healthy,' 
then  my  income  drops,  my  earnings  last  year  being  consider- 
ably less  owing  to  the  small  number  of  deaths."  His  regular 
duties  were  varied  and  numerous;  besides  the  teaching  of 
music,  they  consisted  in  giving  instruction  in  Latin,  and  direct- 
ing the  music  at  other  churches  and,  on  all  festival  occasions, 
at  the  University.  When  we  take  these  facts  into  considera- 
tion, we  may  well  wonder  how  he  found  time  for  the  creation 
of  so  many  mastenvorks,  some  of  which  he  was  compelled 
to  hear  performed  very  inadequately  (as  compared  with  his 
conception),  and  others  which  he  never  even  heard. 

That  he  served  his  art  for  the  love  of  it,  and  not  for  glory 
or  the  hope  of  wealth,  is  seen  from  his  sturdy  adherence  to 
the  composition  of  works  which  breathe  genuine  piety  and 
religious  devotion,  at  a  time  when  the  atmosphere  of  the 
courts  and  the  society  of  possible  patrons  were  permeated 
with  gayety  and  frivolity. 


2o8  Familiar  Talks  on  the  History  of  Music 

One  of  his  great  joys  at  this  time  was  his  family,  which  he 
loved  passionately,  and  of  whose  individual  musical  abilities 
he  was  very  proud;  another  was  the  continuous  flow  of  lofty 
musical  ideas  which  poured  from  his  mighty  pen  and  which 
he  so  well  knew  how  to  mould  into  imperishable  forms.  In  one 
of  his  letters  he  refers  with  pride  to  the  work  of  his  first  three 
sons  at  the  University  and  to  his  abiUty  to  give  a  very  good 
concert  with  the  members  of  his  family.  Great  was  his  sat- 
isfaction when,  in  1733,  his  son  Friedemann  was  installed 
as  organist  at  the  church  of  St.  Sophia  in  Dresden,  and  when, 
in  1740,  the  second  son,  Philipp  Emanuel,  was  appointed  court 
musician  and  pianist  to  Frederick  the  Great.  Through  the 
son,  the  king  often  heard  of  the  greatness  of  the  father,  and 
finally  in  1744  invited  him  to  visit  the  palace  in  Potsdam. 
The  respect  which  the  king  showed  the  aged  master  was  only 
equaled  by  Bach's  humble  but  dignified  reception  of  this 
royal  attitude. 

The  list  of  great  works  written  during  Bach's  sojourn  at 
Leipzig  is  a  stupendous  one,  and  includes  about  200  church 
cantatas,  the  great  Magnificat,  the  Passions  according  to 
St.  ]\Iatthew  and  St.  John,  the  5-minor  Mass,  the  Christmas 
Oratorio,  and  the  second  part  of  the  "Wohltemperirtes  Cla- 
vier," many  of  whose  preludes  and  fugues  are  as  full  of  religious 
devotion  and  exaltation  as  his  vocal  works  with  sacred  texts. 

Among  his  professional  pleasures  were  the  opening  of  new 
organs,  the  examination  of  candidates  for  positions  as  organists 
in  various  parts  of  Germany,  and  his  visits  to  his  staunch 
friend  and  admirer,  the  Elector  of  Saxony,  at  Dresden,  on 
which  occasions  he  used  to  frequent  the  Italian  opera-house  of 
that  city  with  his  son  Friedemann  "to  hear  some  of  those 
pretty  little  Italian  tunes.'' 

After  his  return  from  Potsdam,  his  health  left  much  to  be 
desired,  and  he  sought  relief  in  earnest  and  assiduous  work, 
which  so  aggravated  the  disorder  of  his  eyes  that  he  became 
totally  blind.     He  died  on  July  28,  1850,  valued  so  lightly  by 


Bach  and  Handel  209 


the  community  in  which  he  lived  that  the  exact  place  of  his 
burial  was  unknown,  and  has  only  recently  been  discovered. 

Space  forbids  a  detailed  enumeration  of  his  great  works,  but 
a  few  may  be  mentioned.  Among  the  many  cantatas  there 
is  his  setting  of  a  fundamental  conception  of  early  Christian- 
ity: "Think  ye  how  to  die,"  as  expressed  in  his  cantata  "God's 
time  is  best,"  which  is  filled  with  a  mystic  contemplation  of 
the  life  beyond  the  grave.  Then  there  are  his  settings  of  the 
Passion,  according  to  St.  Matthew  and  St.  John,  the  one  buoy- 
ant with  mature  faith,  the  result  of  religious  experience,  the 
other  effulgent  with  youthful  meditation  on  the  mysteries  and 
beauty  of  the  great  tragedy.  How  powerfully  has  the  master 
portrayed  the  fanatical  Jewish  rabble  surging  around  the 
Saviour,  and  what  a  contrast  this  offers  to  the  setting  of  His 
words,  by  which  we  are  impressed  with  His  human  sufferings 
regardless  of  creed  or  schism,  and  which  therefore  appeals  to 
all  the  world. 

Among  his  instrumental  works  for  the  piano  the  "Wohltem- 
perirtes  Clavier"  stands  foremost,  a  veritable  panacea  for  all 
moods,  now  sad,  now  joyful;  now  heroic,  now  sublime;  a 
friend  at  all  times  and  under  all  circumstances,  every  number 
expressing  a  special  mood.  Feelings  are  here  expressed  in 
tones,  which  is  the  mission  of  music,  and  in  doing  so  Bach 
emancipated  instrumental  music  from  words,  and  stands  as 
the  first  and  perhaps  the  greatest  of  all  tone-poets.  Even  the 
Italian  opera-composers  of  his  day  did  not  nearly  equal  him 
in  this  expression  of  individuality.  These  masterly  preludes 
and  fugues  were  prophetic  of  the  possibilities  of  the  modern 
grand  piano. 

Of  his  orchestral  works,  the  Brandenburg  Concertos  and  the 
Suites  deserve  special  attention;  while  his  compositions  for  the 
organ,  of  which  instrument  he  was  one  of  the  greatest  masters 
who  ever  lived,  are  most  admirable  exemplars  of  their  class. 

The  life  of  George  Frederick  Handel  presents  a  sharp 
contrast  to  that  of  the  grand  old  cantor  of  Leipzig.     He  was 


2IO  Familiar  Talks  on  the  History  of  Music 

born  at  Halle,  a  little  less  than  a  month  before  Bach,  on 
February  25,  1685,  the  son  of  George  Handel,  a  surgeon.  The 
father,  a  self-made  man  who  had  risen  from  obscurity,  desired 
the  son  to  be  a  lawyer,  and  therefore  forbade  the  boy's  practice 
of  gratifying  an  innate  desire  for  music.  This  desire,  however, 
could  not  be  suppressed,  and  the  picture  of  his  nightly  practice 
by  candlelight  upon  a  small  clavichord,  which  he  had  hidden 
in  the  attic,  is  a  familiar  one. 

On  a  brief  visit  to  the  court  at  Weissenfels  in  company  with 
his  father  he  obtained  access  to  the  court  chapel  and  began 
to  play  on  the  organ.  There  he  was  discovered  by  the  Duke, 
who  pleaded  with  the  boy's  father  to  give  him  musical  instruc- 
tion. As  a  consequence,  he  began  the  study  of  organ,  harp- 
sichord and  composition  under  the  Halle  organist  Zachau. 
Without  aid  he  also  learned  to  play  the  violin  and  oboe,  and 
at  the  age  of  ten  had  actually  written  some  sonatas  for  two 
oboes  and  bass. 

At  eleven  the  youthful  prodigy  was  taken  to  Berlin  and 
placed  under  the  protection  of  Princess  Sophia  Charlotte,  a 
very  accomplished  musician,  who  often  conducted  excellent 
concerts.  There  he  met  two  Italian  composers,  Ariosto,  who 
at  once  became  his  friend  and  admirer,  and  Buononcini,  who 
treated  him  with  disdain.  This  was  borne  with  such  dignity 
by  the  boy,  that  he  won  the  favor  of  Frederick  III,  who  pro- 
posed to  send  him  to  Italy.  Handel  thanked  the  Elector  for 
his  kindly  offer,  but,  despite  the  protests  of  his  mother  and 
his  first  teacher,  declined  the  proposal  and  entered  the  Uni- 
versity at  Halle,  in  1702,  as  a  law-student.  Being  at  heart 
a  musician,  he  devoted  most  of  his  year  in  the  university  to 
the  study  of  music  and  to  his  duties  as  organist  at  the  cathe- 
dral. We  have  spoken  of  his  work  in  Hamburg,  whither  he 
was  attracted  in  1703  by  the  activity  of  German  operatic 
composers.  There  he  met  John  Mattheson,  a  versatile 
musician,  litterateur  and  musical  critic,  who  became  Handel's 
lifelong  friend  and  admirer,  and  secured  for  him  a  number  of 


Bach  and  Handel  211 


pupils  as  well  as  the  position  of  second  violinist  at  the  opera- 
house,  where  he  soon  became  conductor  (harpsichordist)  of 
the  orchestra.  He  brought  out  several  ItaUan  operas,  and 
his  financial  success  with  Almira  enabled  him,  because  of  his 
thrifty  habits,  to  go  to  Italy  in  1706.  He  visited  in  turn 
Florence,  Rome,  Venice  and  Naples,  where  he  remained  some 
time.  The  years  thus  spent  were  among  the  happiest  of  his 
life,  as  he  was  not  only  surrounded  by  art  treasures  which  he 
loved,  but  was  hailed  everywhere  as  a  welcome  guest  and  an 
accomplished  musician.  From  this  stay  in  Italy  dates  the 
disappearance  of  the  academic  quality  predominant  in  his 
Hamburg  compositions;  his  succeeding  works  show  the  in- 
fluence of  this  more  emotional  environment,  resulting  in  a 
number  of  operas,  cantatas,  etc.,  some  of  which,  under  Eng- 
lish titles,  such  as  Acis  and  Galatea  and  The  Triumph  of 
Time,  reappear  in  his  later  life. 

Through  the  influence  of  German  musical  friends  he  was 
induced  to  leave  Italy  and  take  up  his  abode  in  Hanover. 
Upon  his  arrival  in  17 10  he  was  made  chapel-master  to  the 
Elector  George,  who  gave  him  permission  to  visit  England 
before  assuming  his  offlcial  duties.  This  visit  and  its  resultant 
contact  with  the  music  of  that  country  had  a  great  influence 
upon  his  future  career. 

We  have  already  mentioned  the  development  of  Protestant 
church  music  in  England  and  its  degeneration  under  the  sway 
of  Puritanism,  which  was  responsible  for  the  destruction  of 
much  of  England's' best  music.  The  same  religious  move- 
ment retarded  the  development  of  dramatic  music,  but 
after  the  Restoration,  French  opera  having  become  popular, 
English  musicians  began  its  study.  One  of  these,  Pelham 
Humphreys,  went  to  France  to  become  the  pupil  of  Lully, 
and  upon  his  return  had  as  his  pupil  England's  greatest 
opera-composer  and  first  representative  musician,  Henry 
Purcell  (1658-1695),  whose  opera  Dido  and  ^neas  was  far  in 
advance  of  contemporary  Italian  operas  in  dramatic  sincerity. 


212 


Familiar  Talks  on  the  History  of  Music 


He  wrote  many  anthems  and  canticles  for  the  AngUcan 
church.  That  he  exercised  some  influence  over  Handel  may 
be  seen  from  his  "Utrecht  Te  Deum"  and  from  the  following 
quotation  from  his  music  to  Diocletian,  which  seems  to  fore- 
shadow the  great  trumpet  aria  in  The  Messiah: 


70.       From  Purcell's  Music  to  Diocletian 


y •— « — 3 


i3;;t!?t-t!r^ 


^fe^EEE= 


^[ 


^3^5^=3=3: 


sound ! 

n 1"^ 


*— •-*T«-*r*»- 


Sound, 


q=l: 


=ir*= 


--=^-:i's=^-^-- 


No  sooner  had  Handel  arrived  in  London  than  he  began  to 
cast  about  for  a  libretto  for  an  opera  in  the  Italian  style; 


Bach  and  Handel  213 


and  in  February,  171 1,  he  brought  out  Rinaldo,  which  was 
completed  in  the  incredibly  short  period  of  two  weeks.  After 
a  few  months'  stay  he  returned  to  Hanover  and  took  up  his 
duties  at  the  court  of  George,  but,  having  tasted  of  the  full- 
ness of  English  Hterary  and  musical  Hfe,  and  having  made 
many  friends  among  the  aristocracy,  he  solicited  and  was 
granted  permission  for  a  second  visit  during  the  following 
year.  Two  other  Italian  operas  quickly  followed  his  arrival, 
and  his  Te  Deum  and  Jubilate  in  large  choral  form  for  the 
celebration  of  the  corrupt  peace  of  Utrecht  so  endeared  him 
to  the  Jacobite  English  Cabinet  and  Parliament  before  which 
they  were  performed,  that  he  was  granted  an  annuity  of 
$tooo.  This  sum,  added  to  his  salary  of  $1500  as  Hanoverian 
chapel-master,  gave  him  a  handsome  fixed  income,  and  every- 
thing was  made  so  pleasant  for  him  that  he  overstayed  his 
vacation.  In  doing  so  he  incurred  the  displeasure  of  his 
patron,  who  in  the  following  year  became  King  George  I  of 
England.  His  frequent  efforts  for  a  restoration  to  the 
king's  favor  finally  met  with  success,  and  he  even  accompanied 
the  court  on  a  short  visit  to  Germany,  where  he  wrote  a 
Passion  on  a  modified  BibHcal  text  by  the  poet  Brockes. 
Upon  his  return  to  England  he  became  musical  director  to 
the  Duke  of  Chandos,  at  whose  home  he  wrote  the  twelve 
celebrated  "Chandos"  anthems,  his  first  oratorio,  Esther,  and 
the  pastoral  play  (serenata)  Acis  and  Galatea. 

An  attempt  made  by  the  English  nobility  to  establish 
Italian  opera  resulted  in  his  securing  the  directorship,  and 
during  several  years  he  wrote  a  number  of  operas,  most  of 
which  are  almost  unknown.  The  antipathy  of  the  English 
against  all  things  foreign,  and  the  intrigues  of  the  Italian 
opera-singers,  finally  caused  the  closing  of  the  Haymarket 
opera-house  in  1728.  Nothing  daunted,  Handel  determined 
to  open  a  new  opera-house.  He  WTnt  to  Italy  to  secure  his 
singers,  and  on  the  return-journey  stopped  at  his  old  home 
in  Halle,  where  he  almost  met  Bach,  who  had  expressed  a 


214  Familiar  Talks  on  the  History  of  Music 

desire  for  such  a  meeting.  His  new  venture  failed  after  four 
years,  costing  him  his  fortune;  but,  with  the  aid  of  friends, 
he  made  a  third  attempt.  This  also  resulted  in  financial 
disaster,  due  in  great  measure  to  the  rancorous  opposition  of 
rivals  for  public  favor,  Handel  being  unfortunately  on  the 
unpopular  side.  His  old  enemy  Buononcini  was  one  of  his 
chief  opponents;  the  rivalry  between  the  two  composers 
was  neatly  taken  off  in  an  epigram  penned  by  the  Lancashire 
poet  Byrom : 

Some  say,  compared  to  Bononcini, 
That  Mynheer  Handel's  but  a  Ninny; 
Others  aver,  that  he  to  Handel 
Is  scarcely  fit  to  hold  a  Candle: 
Strange  all  this  Diflference  should  be, 
'Twixt  Tweedle-dum  and  Tweedle-dee! 

He  almost  lost  his  mind  as  a  result  of  the  repeated  attacks  of 
his  detractors,  and  sought  a  few  months  of  peace  and  quiet 
on  the  continent.  Upon  his  return  to  England,  he  began  his 
career  as  a  composer  of  oratorios,  in  which  capacity  he  has 
never  been  excelled,  and  as  these  were  written  and  sung  in 
the  vernacular  they  endeared  him  to  friend  and  foe  alike. 
These  works  began  a  new  era  in  the  domain  of  oratorio, 
being  epical  in  character,  not  lyrical  Hke  those  of  his  predeces- 
sors. He  generally  uses  stories  from  the  Old  Testament,  and 
excludes  the  chorale,  thus  removing  them  at  once  from  the 
sphere  of  pure  church  music  to  that  of  the  concert-hall,  the 
Biblical  narrator  of  events  being  often  wholly  eliminated,  and 
the  meditative  utterance  being  assigned  to  different  dra- 
matis persona.  He  raised  the  status  of  the  chorus  from  a 
humble  helper  to  the  main  feature  of  the  oratorio,  using  it  to 
describe  dramatic  events  whose  impressive  power  would  have 
been  lost  if  delivered  by  a  solo  voice,  while  it  is  intensified  by 
the  massing  of  many  voices.  No  individual  description,  how- 
ever emphatic  and  vigorous,  can  compare  with  the  ponderous 
utterance  of  the  chorus  in  narrating  the  fate  of  a  person  or  a 


Bach  and  Handel  215 


nation,  or  in  describing  dramatic  and  thrilling  events.  To 
Handel  belongs  the  honor  of  making  the  chorus  represent 
much  of  the  dramatic  action. 

Most  of  his  oratorios  reflect,  in  text  and  music,  not  only  his 
own  indomitable  nature,  but  also  the  spirit  and  character  of 
the  country  which  had  adopted  him,  and  which  at  that  time 
was  the  only  stronghold  of  freedom  and  independence. 

His  association  with  men  of  lofty  ideas,  grandeur  of  thought 
and  enthusiasm  for  liberty,  had  a  tremendous  influence  upon 
his  work.  Among  his  daily  associates  we  must  mention 
Samuel  Johnson,  Richard  Savage,  Dean  Swift,  the  Duke  of 
Chandos,  Pope,  Addison,  Gay,  Arbuthnot,  and  many  other 
poets,  litterateurs  and  men  of  affairs. 

No  wonder  that  he  was  cosmopoHtan  in  his  art,  and  that  he 
chose  to  sing  of  the  heroes  of  the  Israelites,  Greeks,  Macedo- 
nians, and  even  of  the  Persians;  no  wonder  that  he  wrote 
for  almost  every  instrument  and  combination  of  instruments 
then  in  use. 

His  work  in  the  field  of  oratorio  won  back  the  friends  who 
had  been  alienated  during  the  operatic  feuds,  and  gave  him 
an  assured  position;  for,  with  the  changes  of  time,  oratorio 
came  to  be  more  fashionable  than  opera. 

Though  he  loved  the  society  of  ladies,  Handel  remained  a 
bachelor.  He  gave  much  to  charity,  and  —  be  it  said  to  his 
honor  —  during  his  lifetime  the  receipts  of  every  performance 
of  his  most  popular  work,  The  Messiah,  as  well  as  those  of 
many  others,  were  devoted  to  charitable  purposes.  His 
gifts  to  the  Foundling  Hospital  in  London  were  munificent, 
as  were  his  contributions  to  the  establishment  of  a  home  for 
indigent  musicians.  He  was  devoted  to  his  mother;  he  pro- 
vided the  widow  of  his  first  teacher,  Zachau,  with  a  pension, 
and  gave  much  from  his  own  purse  for  various  benevolent 
enterprises. 

When  at  work  on  the  oratorio  Jephthah,  in  1754,  he  began 
to  have  difficulties  with  his  eyes  which   resulted   in   total 


2i6  Familiar  Talks  on  the  History  of  Music 

blindness.     Excitable   though  he  had  always  been,   Handel 
bore  this  trial  with  gentle  dignity,  and  never  complained. 

Was  it  the  prophetic  quality  of  genius  that  enabled  him  to 
picture  the  grief  of  the  blind  Samson  in  that  remarkable 
utterance  "Total  eclipse"  ?  His  appearance,  when  led  to  the 
organ  in  his  final  years,  caused  a  thrill  of  veneration  in  the 
musicians  who  flocked  to  the  concerts  to  hear  his  masterly 
playing,  which  he  continued  almost  up  to  the  day  of  his  death, 

April  13,  1759- 

His  work  in  his  adopted  country  was  of  such  a  high  standard 
that  excellent  English  musicians  hke  Doctor  Arne  and  Pepusch 
could  not  approach  it,  and  were  perforce  content  with  the 
composition  of  smaller  works. 

We  have  seen  the  difference  of  environment  which  charac- 
terized the  lives  of  the  two  great  masters  under  consideration, 
the  one  dwelling  in  comparative  obscurity  and  working  mostly 
in  and  for  the  Protestant  Church,  the  other  spending  the 
greater  part  of  his  hfe  among  the  gHtter,  pomp  and  circum- 
stance of  a  great  court;  the  former  nearly  always  in  straitened 
circumstances  and  lacking  congenial  friends,  the  latter  moving 
among  men  of  great  mind  and  character,  the  foremost  of 
their  day;  both  stricken  by  blindness  in  their  old  age,  but  the 
one  buried  in  an  unknown  grave,  and  the  other  at  rest  among 
England's  greatest  in  her  hall  of  fame,  Westminster  Abbey. 

That  their  environment  influenced  the  character  of  their 
works  is  indisputable.  Those  of  Bach  are  born  of  religious 
enthusiasm  and  are  for  the  inner  court  of  the  heart,  while 
those  of  Handel  demand  the  larger  audience,  the  concert-hall. 
Each  worked  out  what  was  in  him,  and,  side  by  side,  they  are 
the  two  towering  colossi  that  form  the  portal  to  modern 
musical  art. 


CHAPTER   XV. 

THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  MUSICAL  INSTRUMENTS  AND 
THE  RISE   OF  INSTRUMENTAL  MUSIC. 

During  the  Middle  Ages  vocal  music  reached  a  high  degree 
of  artistic  development.  Instrumental  music  as  an  art  did 
not  then  exist,  because  of  the  limitations  in  tonal  range  and 
power  of  musical  instruments.  Up  to  the  beginning  of  the 
sixteenth  century  these  were  used,  in  art-music,  only  for 
doubling  the  vocal  parts.  We  have  seen  that  Willaert  and 
the  Gabrielis  were  the  first  to  recognize  the  tone-coloring 
effectiveness  of  certain  musical  instruments,  and  that  they 
occasionally  wrote  madrigals  for  instruments  as  well  as  for 
voices,  the  former  to  be  "sounded"  (sonatc),  the  latter  to  be 
sung  (cantate),  both  written  virtually  after  the  same  manner 
and  sometimes  bearing  the  direction  ''da  cantare  e  sonare" 
(to  be  sung  and  played). 

The  origin  of  most  musical  instruments  is  shrouded  in 
obscurity,  and  was  attributed  to  different  causes  among 
different  nations  of  antiquity.  We  know  the  story  of  Hermes, 
who,  when  walking  along  the  bank  of  the  river,  accidentally 
kicked  the  shell  of  a  tortoise  to  which  some  dried  skin  or  intes- 
tines were  still  adhering,  which  gave  forth  a  vibrant  sound 
and  suggested  to  him  the  idea  and  shape  of  the  lyre. 

The  rebab  and  lute  originated  among  the  Arabs.  The 
former  was  played  with  a  bow;  the  latter  was  plucked  with 
the  fingers,  and  became  the  favorite  accompanying  instrument 
of  the  Troubadours  and  Minnesinger.  The  crowd  or  chrolta 
of  the  Welsh  was  a  sort  of  violin  with  several  strings  and  played 
with  a  bow;  in  media?val  times  the  names  of  such  instruments 
were  derived  from  the  Latin  word  fides  (a  cord  made  from 

217 


2i8  Familiar  Talks  on  the  History  of  Music 

animal  intestines),  such  as  fidula,  viola,  vielle,  viole,  and  (in 
England)  fiddle  or  viol.  During  the  Middle  Ages  we  find  this 
instrument  in  two  forms  and  played  after  two  different  man- 
ners, one  kind  resting  on  the  leg  or  between  the  knees  (da 
gamba)  and  the  other  on  the  arm  {da  braccia),  and  made  in 
several  sizes  corresponding  in  pitch  to  the  various  ranges  of 
the  human  voice.  This  was  due  to  the  fact  that  they  were 
used  mostly  for  doubling  the  voices;  so  they  were  grouped  as 
bass,  tenor  and  soprano  viols.  Following  the  labors  and 
artistic  demands  of  Monteverde,  who  recognized  their  individ- 
ual quality,  but  four  species  survived  —  the  bass-viol  and  the 
tenor  viola  da  gamba  becoming  respectively  our  double-bass 
and  violoncello,  the  alto  viola  da  braccia  becoming  our  viola 
(German,  Bratsche),  and  the  soprano  viola  the  violin  (Italian 
violino  =  little  viol). 

We  have  spoken  of  the  art  of  violin-making  which  flourished 
in  Italy,  in  the  sixteenth  century,  Brescia  producing  Gasparo 
da  Said  and  the  Magginis,  and  Cremona  (then  already  cele- 
brated for  this  industry)  producing  the  Amatis,  who  gave 
the  instrument  its  present  shape.  By  the  families  of  Guar- 
neri  and  Stradivari  the  violin  was  improved  still  more,  until 
it  became  the  solo  instrument  of  the  orchestra.  The  in- 
creasing excellence  of  its  tone-quality  caused  it  to  be  recog- 
nized as  capable  of  much  more  than  its  hitherto  conceded 
special  fitness  for  playing  dance-music.  Its  vocal  quality 
began  to  be  appreciated  and,  after  the  invention  of  the  solo 
song,  or  Aria,  it  began  to  alternate  and  vie  with  the  voices  of 
highly  trained  coloratura  singers.  This  form  of  musical 
utterance,  first  transferred  to  keyboard  instruments  and 
then  to  the  members  of  the  violin  family,  was  known  as  the 
Canzone  (French,  Chanson).  The  orchestral  pieces  of  this 
sort,  composed  by  Giovanni  Gabrieli  and  Monteverde,  were 
limited  in  length,  because  they  were  used  only  as  interludes; 
they  were  also  called  Sonatas,  meaning  "to  be  sounded''  and 
not  "to  be  sung,''  as  may  be  seen  from  the  title  "Sonata  a 


The  Development  of  Musical  Instruments  219 

cinque  per  istromenti."  (Sonata  in  five  parts,  for  instru- 
ments.) 

The  town  musicians  in  Germany,  France  and  Italy  early 
instituted  the  practice  of  playing  a  number  of  dance-tunes  in 
succession  ("en  suite")  for  musical  entertainment,  entirely 
dissociated  from  the  exercise  of  the  terpsichorean  art.  In 
Italy  these  were  called  sonate  da  camera,  or  partite.  French 
musicians  soon  began  to  give  them  key-relationship  and  a 
sort  of  organic  connection;  with  the  addition  of  a  prelude 
they  were  now  called  "ordres,"  or  ''suites,"  both  by  the 
French  and  by  Bach.  At  first  their  plan  was  more  or  less 
incoherent,  but  early  in  the  eighteenth  century  they  began  to 
assume  a  definite  arrangement,  and  there  was  a  distinctive 
difference  between  French,  English  and  Italian  Suites. 

Among  the  French  writers  who  then  excelled  in  this  form, 
and  transferred  it  to  the  organ  and  other  keyboard  instru- 
ments, must  be  named  Couperin,  Marchand  and  Rameau. 
Frangois  Couperin  (1663-1733)  was  a  fine  organist  and  player 
upon  the  clavecin  (harpsichord),  and  one  of  the  founders  of 
harpsichord  music,  with  its  profuse  embellishments.  Louis 
Marchand,  his  contemporary,  likewise  an  excellent  organist 
and  clavecin-player,  was  the  man  who,  after  accepting 
Bach's  challenge  to  a  contest  in  organ-playing,  fled  instead 
of  meeting  the  great  cantor.  Rameau  wrote  excellently  in 
the  suite-form  for  the  harpsichord,  on  which  he  was  a  great 
virtuoso. 

While  Handel  also  wrote  fine  suites  for  harpsichord,  as 
well  as  for  orchestra,  at  the  hands  of  Bach  they  reached  their 
height  of  excellence  and  dignity. 

In  addition  to  the  suite,  the  overture,  the  sonata  and  the 
concerto  were  favorite  forms  of  composite  instrumental 
utterance.  —  The  overture,  though  originally  part  of  the 
music-drama,  and  therefore  of  Italian  origin,  was  graduaJly 
developed  by  Alessandro  Scarlatti  and  Lully  into  an  inde- 
pendent   musical    form,    containing    three    or    four    distinct 


220  Familiar  Talks  on  the  History  of  Music 

movements.  The  Italian  form  consisted  of  (i)  a  rapid,  de- 
cisively rhythmic  movement,  (2)  a  flowing  movement  in 
song-form,  and  (3)  a  quick,  and  usually  contrapuntal,  Allegro. 
The  French  form  consisted  of  (i)  a  broad,  sustained,  strongly 
harmonic  movement,  in  majestic  style;  (2)  a  contrapuntal 
Allegro  with  a  display  of  varied  instrumental  color;  (3)  a 
flowing  melody  like  a  canzonetta,  and  (4)  a  stately  dance. 

The  sonata,  a  composition  for  a  small  number  of  instru- 
ments, existed  in  two  varieties;  the  sonata  da  chiesa,  in  form 
a  precursor  of  the  French  overture;  and  the  sonata  da  camera, 
a  set  of  dances  for  a  few  instruments. 

The  concerto  was  originally  a  composition  for  a  certain 
set  of  orchestral  instruments,  playing  in  "concert"  with  each 
other.  In  the  course  of  time  its  name  was  also  applied  to 
works  for  one  or  more  solo  instruments  with  orchestral  ac- 
companiment, the  concerti  grossi  of  Handel  belonging  to  this 
class.  In  smaller  dimensions  this  form  was  also  called  sonata, 
especially  when  the  accompaniment  was  limited  to  the 
harpsichord,  and  in  both  manners  was  worked  out  exquisitely 
for  the  violin  by  Corelli  (1653-1713);  Vivaldi  (i68o?-i743) 
and  Tartini  (169 2- 17  70)  furnishing  fine  examples  for  the 
display  of  virtuosity,  and  also  exhibiting  a  deep  study  of  the 
musical  resources  of  the  instrument.  Bach  followed  their 
form  in  his  Italian  Concertos  for  the  clavichord,  and  in  many 
concertos  for  various  other  instruments. 

All  these  efforts  were  but  preliminary  steps  to  the  advent 
of  the  symphony,  the  culmination  of  instrumental  music,  to 
which  we  shall  return. 

The  beginnings  of  the  organ  may  be  seen  in  the  Syrinx  or 
Pandean  pipes  of  mythical  lore.  In  ancient  forms  it  was 
used  by  Greeks  and  Romans.  Of  all  musical  instruments  it 
was  the  first  to  serve  higher  artistic  purposes,  largely  because 
of  its  association  with  the  Church  and  its  consequent  use  by 
men  of  learning  and  musicianship.  At  first,  its  mechanism 
was    so    clumsv    that   the    organ    at   Winchester    cathedral, 


The  Development  of  Musical  Instruments  221 

England,  in  950,  although  having  400  pipes  and  but  ten  keys, 
is  said  to  have  required  seventy  men  to  blow  it.  The  manual 
of  early  organs  had  keys  as  broad  as  the  average  hand, 
and  they  could  be  pressed  down  only  by  the  elbows  or  the 
fists.  Its  tones  could  therefore  only  give  fundamental  sup- 
port to  the  singers,  and  the  player  was  called  an  '^organ- 
beater.'" 

The  origin  of  the  modern  keyboard  is  shrouded  in  obscurity. 
Though  it  still  contains  the  original  idea  of  leverage,  its 
adaptation  to  the  hand  progressed  slowly.  The  arrangement 
of  the  white  keys  was  undoubtedly  due  to  its  use  in  sup- 
porting the  liturgic  chant  in  the  pure  church  modes,  whose 
representation  upon  the  lines  and  spaces  of  the  staff  (un- 
altered) corresponds  with  them,  the  intervening  black  keys 
being  adopted  as  needed. 

Although  organs  were  at  first  built  only  in  permanent 
positions  in  the  churches,  it  was  not  long  before  movable 
ones  were  made.  In  the  thirteenth  century,  we  find  them 
called  "positives"  if  their  position  could  not  be  changed,  and 
*'portatives"  if  they  were  so  small  that  they  could  be  carried, 
as  in  processions,  those  having  but  one  stop  or  set  of  small 
pipes  being  called  regals.  We  mentioned  two  of  the  latter  class 
as  part  of  Monteverde's  orchestra;  and  there  is  no  question 
that  the  use  of  these  smaller  organs  contributed  most  to  the 
improvement  of  the  larger  ones,  because  they  could  be  used 
for  "secular"  and  experimental  purposes.  While  the  making 
of  organs  was  originally  in  the  hands  of  monks,  at  the  begin- 
ning of  the  Reformation  their  manufacture  had  become  a 
trade,  and  the  builders  had  formed  guilds.  The  resultant 
competition  aided  the  rapid  development  of  exxellence  in 
details  of  construction,  such  as  the  material  of  the  pipes, 
the  adjustment  of  the  reeds,  sufficient  wind-pressure,  the 
"action,"  and  the  introduction  of  different  manuals. 

The  earlier  forms  of  organ  music  were  those  of  the  con- 
trapuntal vocal  style,  and  it  was  apparently  not  until  the 


222  Familiar  Talks  on  the  History  of  Music 

middle  of  the  sixteenth  century  that  the  possibility  of  the  use 
of  this  instrument  for  other  musical  purposes  was  clearly 
reaUzed.  It  was  Willaert  who,  by  the  combined  use  of  his 
two  organs  at  the  church  of  San  Marco  in  Venice,  recognized 
its  possible  massive  chord-effects  and  variety  of  tone-color. 
Gradually  other  organists  learned  its  adaptability  for  char- 
acteristic but  unvocal  passages  and  intervals  that  could  be 
used  to  produce  striking  effects,  and  even  transferred  the 
dance-forms  to  their  instrument. 

The  fugue,  the  most  elaborate  contrapuntal  form,  was  a 
product  of  the  work  of  Sweelinck  (of  the  Netherland  school) , 
who  invented  the  idea  of  subject  and  answer;  the  contrapuntal 
elaboration  of  the  chorale,  and  the  addition  of  harmonic  ac- 
companiment to  church  songs  in  their  final  development, 
were  likewise  based  upon  keyboard  possibilities,  and  not  upon 
those  of  voices.  This  opened  an  entirely  new  field  for  com- 
position, and  the  advancement  of  harmony  without  abandon- 
ing contrapuntal  skill,  resulting  in  the  toccata  and  canzona  for 
organ  and  an  independent  use  of  the  organ-pedals. 

The  leadership  among  organists  now  shifted  from  Italy 
(Frescobaldi)  to  Germany,  where  two  distinct  organ  schools 
were  formed,  that  of  the  South  and  that  of  the  North,  be- 
tween which  grew  up  the  child  of  both,  the  Thuringian  school. 

The  South  German  school,  arising  in  a  country  predomi- 
nantly Catholic,  followed  the  Italians  very  closely,  producing 
Froberger  of  Vienna  and  Pachelbel  of  Nuremburg. 

Jacob  Froberger  (?-i667)  studied  with  Frescobaldi  at 
Rome  (1637-41),  became  imperial  organist  and  harpsichord- 
ist at  Vienna,  and  composed  many  excellent  toccatas  and 
suites  for  both  these  instruments.  Johann  Pachelbel  (1653- 
1706)  served  as  organist  in  a  number  of  cities;  his  works  had 
an  undoubted  influence  over  Bach. 

The  North  German  school  was  formed  by  pupils  of  Swee- 
linck, several  of  whom  surpassed  their  teacher.  Among  them 
were  Samuel  Scheldt,  Heinrich  Scheidemann,  Adam  Reinken. 


The  Development  of  Musical  Instruments  223 

Dietrich  Buxtehude,  and  a  host  of  other  organists  in  Protes- 
tant churches,  who  helped  to  develop  the  true  organ-style. 

Samuel  Scheidt  (i 587-1654),  organist  at  Halle,  was  the 
first  to  elaborate  chorale  ornamentation  artistically  upon 
the  organ,  and  wrote  excellently  in  the  vocal  style. 

Heinrich  Scheidemann  (i  596-1663)  was  a  famous  organ- 
ist who  served  for  almost  half  a  century  at  the  Katharinen- 
kirche  in  Hamburg. 

Adam  Reinken  (1623-1722),  the  Nestor  of  German  organ- 
ists, who  spent  more  than  half  of  his  long  life  as  Scheide- 
mann's  successor,  was  the  man  who  aroused  the  admiration 
of  Bach  by  his  splendid  extempore  playing,  an  art  of  which 
the  latter  became  a  still  more  proficient  exponent. 

Dietrich  Buxtehude  (1637-1707),  a  Dane,  came  from  a 
family  of  church  musicians,  and  won  international  fame  as  an 
organist  and  composer  for  his  instrument.  He  had  a  pro- 
found influence  upon  Bach. 

The  Thuringian  or  Central  German  school  of  organists, 
midway  between  the  other  two,  presented  by  the  end  of  the 
seventeenth  century  a  character  all  its  own.  Among  its 
masters  were  several  of  the  Bach  family,  Zachau,  Bach's 
teacher,  as  well  as  the  venerable  cantor  himself  and  the  im- 
mortal Handel. 

The  precursors  of  the  piano  were  many  and  various.  Its 
remote  ancestor  was  the  monochord  of  Pythagoras,  which  had 
but  one  string  stretched  by  means  of  varying  weights  to 
varying  tensions  over  a  s6undboard,  the  pitch  of  the  re- 
quired tone  being  obtained  by  shifting  a  movable  bridge 
under  the  string.  The  clavichord  consisted  of  a  series  of 
strings  to  which  a  keyboard  was  applied;  touching  a  key 
caused  a  wedge  of  metal  to  strike  and  press  against  a  string, 
like  the  bridge  of  the  monochord,  the  impact  also  producing 
a  tone.  This  instrument,  which  found  a  place  in  many 
homes,  was  in  the  shape  of  a  rectangular  box  which  could 
easily  be  carried  around  and  placed  upon  an  ordinary  table. 


2  24  Familiar  Talks  on  the  History  of  Music 

Its  volume  of  tone,  which  was  metallic  and  rather  weak, 
could  be  graded  by  the  touch;  it  was  therefore  liked  by 
Bach  and  his  family,  Haydn,  Mozart,  and  even  Beethoven, 

The  harpsichord,  sometimes  called  clavicytherium,  had  as 
one  of  its  ancestors  the  psaltery  or  zither,  an  instrument  long 
in  popular  use,  with  a  keyboard  having  one  key  to  each 
string,  which  was  plucked  by  a  quill.  These  strings  being 
longer  or  shorter,  according  to  their  pitch,  gave  the  instru- 
ment the  shape  of  an  extended  bird's-wing,  whence  arose  its 
German  name  Fliigel  (wing),  which  is  still  applied  to  German 
grand  pianos.  The  tone  of  the  harpsichord  was  more  sonor- 
ous than  that  of  the  clavichord,  and  rather  reedy  in  quality. 
It  was  also  an  instrument  for  the  home,  but  nevertheless 
capable  of  use  for  concert  purposes  and  in  theaters,  when  the 
number  of  strings  to  each  key  was  increased  to  two,  three  or 
even  four.  It  was  a  favorite  instrument  of  Bach,  Scarlatti, 
Rameau,  Handel  and  many  other  virtuosi,  and  was  the 
standard  throughout  the  eighteenth  century.  The  spinet 
and  the  virginal  were  only  temporary  steps,  or  variations,  in 
the  development  of  the  harpsichord  and  clavichord. 

The  origin  of  the  pianoforte  or  forte-piano  (its  original 
name)  may  also  be  traced  to  another  popular  musical  instru- 
ment, the  dulcimer,  which  consisted  of  a  rectangular  box  over 
which  metal  strings  were  stretched,  which  were  struck  with 
a  small  hammer.  The  piano-tone,  as  we  know,  is  produced 
in  a  similar  manner,  its  quality  depending  somewhat  on  the 
material  with  which  the  hammer  is  covered.  Its  improve- 
ment was  delayed  because  of  lack  of  skill  in  the  making  of 
proper  soundboards  and  heavy  drawn-steel  wires  that  could 
be  stretched  very  taut.  Its  action  is  also  much  more  com- 
plicated than  that  of  the  harpsichord,  because  of  the  neces- 
sary instant  recoil  ("escapement")  of  the  hammer  from  the 
string.  At  first  the  piano  resembled  the  harpsichord  in  shape, 
but  later  it  assumed  the  form  of  the  earlier  clavichord,  result- 
ing in  what  we  now  call  the  "square"  piano,  the  Clavicy- 


The  Development  of  Musical  Instruments  225 


therium  form  of  the  harpsichord  being  again  approximated  in 
the  form  which  we  call  "upright." 

While  we  speak  of  the  pianoforte  as  an  invention,  it  was, 
like  all  such,  the  result  of  many  experiments.  The  Italian 
Cristofori,  who  died  in  1731,  was  the  first  to  make  the 
"hammer-clavier,"  the  strength  of  whose  tone  was  dependent 
upon  that  of  the  blow  of  the  hammer,  enabling  the  player  to 
produce  either  sl  forte  or  a  piano  at  will.  The  instrument  was 
improved  in  various  countries,  the  noted  German  organ- 
builder  Silbermann  being  especially  successful.  Several 
specimens  of  his  work  were  tested  by  Bach  at  the  time  of 
his  visit  to  Frederick  the  Great,  at  Potsdam,  and  although 
he  was  very  much  pleased  with  them,  he  deemed  himself  too 
old  to  change  his  style  of  playing  from  that  required  by  the 
harpsichord,  of  which  he  was  a  master. 

The  tuning  of  instruments  of  fixed  pitch,  with  or  without 
keyboard,  so  that  various  tonahties  might  be  used  with  an 
equally  agreeable  effect  on  the  ear,  proved  a  problem  for 
several  centuries.  In  the  earlier  organs  it  was  not  uncom- 
mon to  have  separate  keys  and  pipes  for  A  fiat  and  G  sharp, 
since  both  were  out  of  tune  when  used  outside  of  the  tonality 
of  which  they  were  integral  parts. 

The  Pythagorean  theory  of  intervals,  upon  which  was  based 
the  novum  organum  of  Hucbald  and  other  early  attempts  at 
polyphony,  rested  on  the  assumption  that  the  perfect  fifth  of 
any  tone,  which  forms  a  fourth  with  the  octave  of  that  tone, 
was  the  foundation  of  scale-formation.  Now,  measuring  by  a 
series  of  perfect  fifths  and  octaves,  such  as  we  term  the  ''circle 
of  fifths,"  the  octave  of  the  initial  tone  will  come  out  almost 
an  eighth  of  a  whole  tone  too  sharp.  As  long  as  the  church 
modes  were  in  use,  this  did  not  prove  so  objectionable,  but 
when  the  feeling  for  harmony  demanded  the  triad  rather  than 
the  mode  as  its  basis,  the  lowering  of  the  Pythagorean  third 
became  a  necessity.  This  was  first  accomplished  in  the  early 
sixteenth   century,    by   Zarlino,    of   whom   we   have   already 


226  Familiar  Talks  on  the  History  of  Music 

spoken,  but  its  application,  while  excellent  for  diatonic  harmo- 
nies within  a  given  key,  met  with  other  difficulties  when  modu- 
lation was  attempted,  some  of  the  altered  tones  proving  too 
sharp  and  others  too  flat. 

It  thus  became  necessary  to  make  some  tones  of  each 
scale  slightly  untrue,  so  that,  for  practical  purposes,  their 
"out-of-tuneness"  would  be  scarcely  noticeable.  This  alter- 
ation was  called  the  "temperament"  of  the  scale,  and  was 
applied  in  two  ways,  (i)  by  the  "mean-tone"  temperament, 
which  endeavored  to  make  certain  keys  and  those  immediately 
related  to  them  as  nearly  in  tune  as  possible,  and  (2)  by  the 
"even"  or  "equal"  temperament  (the  system  now  in  general 
use),  which  made  all  keys  slightly  "untrue." 

Bach's  " Well- tempered  Clavichord"  marks  the  consumma- 
tion of  this  equal  temperament  and  shows  his  hearty  approval 
of  the  scheme,  which  enabled  the  composer  to  use  all  keys, 
whether  closely  related  or  not,  equally  well. 

This  opened  the  way  for  the  piano  works  of  Haydn,  Mozart 
and  Beethoven,  and  that  great  mass  of  chamber-music  litera- 
ture which  combines  stringed  instruments  with  the  piano. 

Another  sign  of  broadening  musical  culture  was  an  investi- 
gation into  the  possibilities  of  other  musical  instruments  of 
decided  individuality;  and  the  study  and  utilization  of  their 
characteristic  effects  and  tone-quahties  led  to  the  instru- 
mental solo  as  a  distinct  art-form. 

At  first  these  solo  instruments  were,  as  we  have  seen,  those 
of  the  violin  family,  but  gradually  the  flute,  the  oboe,  the  trum- 
pet and  other  instruments  demanded  and  received  recognition. 

The  flute,  though  in  use  in  antiquity,  did  not  receive  artistic 
recognition  until  the  beginning  of  the  eighteenth  century.  Its 
ancient  form,  which  required  the  use  of  a  mouthpiece  (bee) 
like  that  occasionally  seen  on  the  fife,  gradually  passed  away 
and  the  transverse  or  cross-flute  became  the  leading  variety. 
It  was  made  in  many  different  sizes,  with  a  varying  number 
of  holes  and  auxiliary  keys,  being  perfected  in  modern  times 


The  Development  of  Musical  Instruments  227 


by  Boehm,  whose  instruments  can  be  played  equally  well  in 
almost  all  keys. 

The  oboe  (or  hauthois)  and  the  bassoon  belong,  in  some  form 
of  double-reed  instrument,  to  very  early  times,  appearing 
gradually  in  groups  or  families  corresponding  to  the  human 
voices.  All  these  were  reduced  in  the  eighteenth  century  to 
three  forms:  the  oboe  (the  soprano  instrument),  the  English 
horn  or  cor  anglais  (the  tenor),  and  the  bassoon  (the  bass). 
After  their  individuality  came  to  be  recognized,  they  were 
used  as  solo  instruments,  and  as  the  reeds  were  gradually 
made  thinner,  thus  producing  a  more  refined  tone,  they 
finally  arrived  at  artistic  excellence. 

The  clarinet,  with  but  a  single  reed,  also  belongs  to  the 
family  of  wood-wind  instruments,  and  was  developed  from 
the  chalumeau  about  the  year  1700,  though  it  did  not  take  its 
place  in  the  orchestra  until  about  1750,  the  chalumeau  being 
preferred  as  late  as  the  time  of  Gluck. 

The  French  horn,  trombone  and  trumpet  belong  to  the  same 
musical  family,  whose  common  ancestor  was  probably  the 
horn  of  some  animal,  as  was  the  case  with  the  shofar.  The 
trumpet  was  early  used  for  military  purposes,  and  in  time 
took  its  place  in  the  orchestra  without  much  change.  The 
French  horn,  a  variety  of  the  trumpet,  is  a  lineal  descendant 
of  the  mediaival  hunting-horn,  and  took  its  place  in  the 
orchestra  early  in  the  eighteenth  century,  although  its  tone 
was  thought  to  be  rather  harsh.  The  trombone  is  a  large 
trumpet  of  low  register;  because  of  its  ability  to  produce  tones 
of  exact  pitch  it  was  used  even  in  the  sixteenth  century  in 
vocal  compositions  for  the  purpose  of  tone-coloring. 

The  kettledrums  form  one  among  many  varieties  of  percus- 
sion instruments  common  to  all  nations  of  antiquity,  and  even 
to  savages,  and  were  imported  from  the  Orient  during  the 
Crusades  as  a  military  instrument. 

We  have  given  this  cursory  view  of  the  origin  and  develop- 
ment of  musical  instruments,  fit  for  artistic  and  solo  purposes, 


228  Familiar  Talks  on  the  History  of  Music 

and  the  consequent  rise  of  instrumental  music  as  an  art,  be- 
cause increasing  skill  of  the  players  was  necessary  before  com- 
posers could  give  expression  to  their  conceptions,  not  only 
through  the  large  body  of  good  performers  in  the  orchestra 
but  also  through  smaller  groups  of  superior  players  on  similar 
or  different  instruments,  whose  united  skill  rendered  possible 
the  creation  of  the  symphony  and  the  more  intimate  forms 
which  we  call  chamber  music. 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

THE  EARLY  SYMPHONISTS. 

The  development  of  orchestral  instruments,  and  the  skill 
obtained  by  their  players,  paved  the  way  for  the  arrival  of  the 
early  symphonists.  The  first  of  these  was  Franz  Josep'h 
Haydn,  sometimes  called  the  father  of  the  modern  orchestra. 
While  Handel  and  Bach,  except  in  rare  cases,  treated  the 
orchestra  as  a  collection  of  instrumental  voices,  Haydn  gener- 
ally treated  it  as  though  it  were  a  single  organ-like  instrument, 
with  many  varying  stops,  thus  producing  a  more  massive  tone- 
coloring,  the  greater  variety  of  combinations  of  instruments 
in  large  numbers  resulting  in  a  greater  volume  of  complex 
sound.  While  it  is  true  that  in  later  life  he  learned  much  from 
his  pupil,  Mozart,  about  the  use  of  solo  instruments  and  their 
grouping,  his  is  the  honor  of  being  the  pioneer  in  the  orchestral 
world.  He  was  the  first  great  tone-painter,  all  preceding 
efforts  being  but  preparatory  steps  to  the  results  obtained  by 
his  genius. 

The  orchestra  is  the  preferable  medium  of  the  tone-poet  for 
the  expression  of  lofty  conceptions  and  emotional  moods 
wherewith  he  would  move  the  hearts  and  minds  of  his  hearers. 

This,  to  be  sure,  had  been  done  to  a  degree  in  vocal  compo- 
sition by  some  of  the  Netherlanders  and  early  Italian  masters, 
such  as  Willaert.  Palestrina,  and  the  Gabrielis,  but  they  were 
limited  by  the  apparatus  at  their  disposal. 

Bach,  Handel  and  Gluck  had  a  keen  insight  into  the  indi- 
viduaHty  of  sound  of  such  orchestral  instruments  as  reached 
artistic  excellence  in  their  time,  and  had  written  obbligato 
solos  for  them,  and  used  them  for  characteristic  accompani- 
ments, but  these  were  merely  incidental  to  their  works.     In 

22Q 


230  Familiar  Talks  on  the  History  of  Music 

the  accompaniments  of  his  Israel  in  Egypt  Handel  gave 
suggestions  of  the  "plague  of  flies"  and  the  "plague  of  frogs," 
but  Haydn's  orchestral  representation  of  chaos  makes  us 
realize  the  "earth  without  form  and  void"  in  a  most  impres- 
sive manner.  The  praises  of  Spring  had  been  sung  by  many 
composers  in  various  manners,  but  no  one  had  given  such  a 
picture  of  its  arrival,  accompanied  by  birds  and  flowers  and 
balmy  breezes,  as  the  genial  "Papa  Haydn,"  as  he  was  affec- 
tionately called  by  those  who  knew  and  loved  him.  In  his 
Seasons  he  not  only  paints  the  spring  in  all  its  primitive 
beauty,  but  also  the  shady  woods  and  bubbling  brooks  of 
summer,  the  melancholy  days  of  fall,  and  the  fierce  and  bluster- 
ing winds  of  winter,  each  with  its  own  special  delights  which 
are  clearly  set  forth  before  us. 

He  was  also  the  creator  of  the  Sonata-form,  upon  which  is 
based  so  much  of  the  best  modern  orchestral  and  chamber 
music.  With  him,  as  with  the  later  masters,  the  strings 
are  the  backbone,  nay,  the  whole  framework  of  the  or- 
chestra, and  Beethoven  would  be  difficult  to  conceive 
without  the  works  of  Haydn. 

Receiving  from  Ph.  E.  Bach  the  sonata  with  a  single  theme, 
in  his  hands  it  lost  its  stiffness  and  conventionality  and, 
transmuted  by  his  genius,  assumed  the  classical  art-form  of 
to-day,  with  its  two  contrasting  themes,  a  duality  that  is  the 
very  foundation  of  the  sonata  and  the  symphony. 

The  predominantly  religious  spirit  of  Bach  originated  in 
his  devotion  to  the  Lutheran  church;  Handel  depicted  the 
heroes  of  the  Israelites  and  other  ancient  nations;  Gluck's 
themes  all  dealt  with  Greek  heroes  and  heroism;  but  Haydn 
presents  before  our  imagination  the  humble  farmer  with  his 
daughter,  her  sweetheart,  and  their  friends,  in  their  homely 
duties  and  pleasures. 

He  was  an  intense  lover  of  Nature  and  keenly  susceptible 
to  all  her  varying  moods,  and  above  all  was  genuinely  Austrian 
in  his  love  of  life,  of  poetry  and  of  humor,  qualities  that  made 


The  Early  Symphonisis  231 

him  readily  understood  by  the  public,  and  find  vivid  expres- 
sion in  his  minuets,  which  breathe  the  folk-spirit,  in  his  orches- 
tral rondos,  which  bubble  over  with  the  joy  of  life  and  its 
humor. 

Genius  is  usually  accompanied  by  simplicity,  but  rarely 
by  humor.  We  get  an  occasional  touch  of  humor  in  some  of 
Bach's  works,  such  as  his  "Coffee  Cantata,"  the  first  Z)-major 
Prelude  in  the  "Well-tempered  Clavichord,"  and  the  Fugue 
on  the  "Postilion's  horn;"  we  also  see  it  peep  out  occasion- 
ally in  Handel's  works,  as  in  the  utterance  of  the  giant  Poly- 
phemus in  Acis  and  Galatea;  in  the  works  of  Haydn,  however, 
it  is  very  prominent,  and  of  the  most  ingenuous  kind,  both 
delicate  and  refined.  His  music  enters  the  heart,  and  is 
thoroughly  human  in  its  expression. 

That  this  was  largely  due  to  his  environment,  as  well  as  to 
his  natural  gifts,  is  indisputable,  and  we  will  therefore  briefly 
glance  at  a  few  pages  of  his  life-history. 

Franz  Joseph  Haydn  was  born  on  the  31st  of  March,  1732, 
the  second  child  of  a  family  of  twelve,  whose  father  was  a 
humble  mechanic.  At  the  evening  family  gathering  there 
was  always  music,  a  common  trait  among  the  laboring  classes 
of  Germany  and  Austria.  On  one  of  these  evenings  the  village 
schoolmaster,  noticing  the  boy's  ability  to  learn  songs,  urged 
that  he  be  sent  to  the  near-by  city  of  Hainburg  to  enter  the 
school-choir.  There  he  was  noticed  by  Reutter,  precentor 
of  St.  Stephen's  cathedral  at  Vienna,  who  promptly  engaged 
him  as  one  of  his  choristers.  As  such,  the  boy  lived  in  the 
parish-house,  where  he  should  have  been  happy  and  where 
he  was  entitled  to  receive  a  proper  general  education  as  well 
as  superior  musical  instruction  in  return  for  his  services. 
For  some  reason,  however,  Reutter  came  to  dislike  Joseph, 
and  treated  him  badly,  often  chastising  him  without  cause. 
After  his  voice  broke,  and  having  been  found  guilty  of  some 
boyish  prank,  Reutter  turned  him  out  into  the  street  on  a 
cold,  rainy  November  night  in   1749,  without  money  or  a 


232  Familiar  Talks  on  the  History  of  Music 

place  to  sleep.  After  roaming  around  all  night,  he  met  one  of 
the  tenors  of  the  choir,  who  took  him  home  to  his  attic.  The 
two  years  that  followed  were  full  of  hardship  and  poverty 
for  the  boy,  who  managed,  however,  to  make  a  precarious 
living  by  playing  in  bands,  or  at  weddings  and  baptismal 
festivities,  for  the  latter  of  which  he  occasionally  wrote 
special  music. 

He  also  played  the  violin  in  street  serenades  for  which  he 
sometimes  wrote  the  music,  and  at  one  of  these,  given  in 
honor  of  the  wife  of  Kurtz,  the  actor,  he  was  noticed  by  this 
man,  who,  after  some  questioning,  gave  him  some  verses  to 
be  set  to  music  for  use  in  one  of  his  comedies. 

In  1750,  desiring  to  live  alone,  he  rented  a  garret  in  the 
house  where  Metastasio,  the  poet  and  librettist  of  the  Italian 
opera,  lived.  There  he  practised  on  an  old  harpsichord 
which  he  had  somehow  acquired,  wrote  his  first  mass,  and 
attracted  the  attention  of  his  Italian  poet-neighbor,  who 
sought  him  out  and  secured  him  a  pupil,  Haydn  receiving 
free  board  in  payment  for  the  lessons.  He  also  introduced 
the  young  man  to  Porpora,  the  singing-teacher,  whose  valet 
and  accompanist  he  soon  became,  for  which  services  he  received 
a  small  salary  in  addition  to  board  at  the  upper  servants' 
table,  besides  a  home  and  instruction  from  his  employer 
in  singing  and  composition.  The  relationship  between  the 
director  of  Italian  opera  in  Vienna  and  the  struggling  young 
musician  are  graphically  described  in  George  Sand's  ''Con- 
suelo,"  both  appearing,  of  course,  under  other  names. 

During  the  next  few  years  he  had  various  employers, 
wrote  the  music  for  a  comic  opera  The  Crooked  Devil,  which 
was  an  immediate  success,  and,  in  1759,  his  first  symphony 
in  D  major.  At  the  age  of  29  he  entered  the  service  of  the 
noble  family  of  Esterhazy,  whose  members  had  long  been 
known  as  patrons  of  music  and  art.  With  them  he  remained 
thirty-three  years,  the  greater  part  of  that  time  as  director  of 
music,  and  not  only  received  a  handsome  salary,  but  had  an 


The  Early  Symphonisls  2t^t, 

admirable  opportunity  for  creative  work,  with  a  body  of  com- 
petent musicians  at  his  command  for  testing  and  producing 
his  compositions. 

Under  his  direction  the  orchestra  gradually  increased  from 
17  to  24  members,  who,  as  they  loved  their  genial  leader, 
played  for  him  con  amove,  and  this  friendly  relation,  added 
to  a  life  free  from  the  cares  of  existence,  bred  in  him  the 
contemplative  attitude  so  necessary  to  the  creative  artist. 
Having  married  a  veritable  Xantippe  when  but  a  youth,  his 
life  was  not  altogether  calm  and  sunny;  finally  he  refused  to 
live  with  his  wife,  whom  he  nevertheless  continued  to  support. 

It  was  during  his  service  with  the  Esterhazys  that  he 
perfected  the  form  of  the  sonata  and  the  symphony.  He 
wrote  a  great  many  symphonies,  which  gradually  came  into 
favor  elsewhere  and  made  his  name  widely  known. 

It  is,  therefore,  not  surprising  that  in  1790  he  was  invited 
to  come  to  London,  whose  musicians  and  musical  public  had 
expressed  their  appreciation  of  his  quartets  and  symphonies. 
After  some  hesitation,  Haydn  accepted,  and,  after  bidding  an 
affectionate  good-bye  to  friends  and  admirers,  and  especially 
to  Mozart,  who  joked  with  him  regarding  his  inability  to 
speak  the  English  language,  departed  for  England.  The 
twelve  "Salomon"  symphonies  WTitten  during  his  visit  there 
are  considered  his  greatest  works  in  that  form,  and  earned 
him  the  admiration  and  esteem  of  all.  While  in  London  he 
heard  some  of  Handel's  oratorios,  and  was  so  impressed  by 
their  grandeur  that  he  determined  to  write  similar  works. 

After  his  contract  had  expired,  Haydn  returned  to  Vienna, 
laden  with  honors  and  riches.  In  1794,  after  repeated  in- 
vitations, he  made  another  visit  to  England,  which  was  even 
more  successful  than  the  previous  one,  the  enthusiasm  of  the 
court  and  the  musical  public  being  extraordinary.  The 
financial  results  of  this  visit,  added  to  the  salary  as  musical 
director  which  he  still  enjoyed,  made  him  a  wealthy  man,  free 
from  worldly  anxiety,  and  gave  him  the  time  and  freedom 


234  Familiar  Talks  on  the  History  of  Music 

for  his  two  most  important  works,  The  Creation  and  The 
Seasons,  which  met  with  unprecedented  and  instantaneous 
success. 

The  genuine  enthusiasm  exhibited  by  the  English,  not  only- 
awakened  in  the  aged  musician  a  consciousness  of  his  own 
value  and  musical  powers,  but  aroused  his  countrymen  and 
the  Emperor,  who  began  to  appreciate  the  greatness  of  the 
modest  man  who  had  lived  so  long  in  comparative  obscurity. 

During  the  last  years  of  his  life  his  fame  continued  to  in- 
crease, and  he  received  honors  and  recognition  from  all  sides. 
But  the  greatest  were  those  showered  upon  him  by  the  city 
of  Vienna,  which  had  a  gold  medal  struck  in  his  honor,  pre- 
sented him  with  "the  freedom  of  the  city,"  and  through  the 
nobility  and  art-patrons  arranged  for  a  gala  performance  of 
The  Creation  in  celebration  of  his  seventy-sixth  birthday. 
The  court  and  the  leading  musicians  then  living  in  Vienna, 
including  Beethoven,  were  present  at  this  performance,  and 
the  whole  audience  rose  to  its  feet  to  do  him  honor  when  the 
aged  Haydn  was  carried  to  his  seat,  surrounded  by  the  noblest 
of  the  land,  the  ladies  of  the  court  vying  with  one  another  in 
making  "Papa  Haydn"  comfortable. 

One  stirring  incident  which  gave  evidence  of  his  patriotism, 
occurred  shortly  before  his  death.  When  the  French  under 
Napoleon  entered  his  beloved  city  in  1809,  and  paraded 
through  the  streets,  he  caused  his  piano  to  be  moved  to  the 
open  window,  and  in  his  quavering  voice  sang  his  own  setting 
of  what  is  now  the  Austrian  national  hymn.  So  great  was 
his  renown,  that  when  the  French  soldiers  wished  to  silence 
the  daring  singer,  their  officers  placed  a  guard  of  honor  around 
the  master's  house.  The  excitement,  however,  was  too 
much  for  him,  and  he  died  on  May  30th. 

The  numerous  symphonies  preceding  the  final  ones  written 
for  London,  were  but  so  many  steps  in  the  development  of 
that  art-form,  which  required  much  time  and  effort  in  the 
upbuilding   and  attainment   of  his  ideal.     In   the  Salomon 


The  Early  Symphonists  235 

symphonies,  the  period  of  experimentation  was  past,  the  idea 
of  dual  themes  and  their  relation  and  contrasts  fixed,  and 
they  therefore  deserve  to  rank  beside  those  of  Beethoven  and 
Mozart.  In  perfecting  the  sonata-form  he  established  the 
technique  of  the  form  of  the  string-quartet  as  well  as  that  of 
the  symphony. 

The  content  of  his  works  reflects  the  man  in  all  his  moods. 
He  was  an  affectionate  son,  bore  without  complaint  his  union 
to  a  woman  of  violent  temper,  was  ever  ready  to  help  the 
needy  with  hand,  or  pen,  or  purse,  and  was  always  sympa- 
thetic to  the  sorrowful  and  distressed. 

His  relations  with  Mozart  are  beautiful  to  contemplate. 
'He  was  not  only  proud  of  his  pupil,  but  did  all  he  could  to 
secure  the  young  man  public  opportunity  and  favor,  and 
early  declared  to  the  elder  Mozart,  ''As  an  honest  man  I 
assure  you  before  God  that  I  consider  your  son  the  greatest 
of  all  composers." 

Haydn's  rehgion  was  a  part  of  the  man.  His  sacred  com- 
positions exhibit  a  lightness  and  gayety  that  is  best  ex- 
pressed in  his  own  words:  "When  I  think  of  the  Divine 
Being  my  heart  is  so  full  of  joy  that  the  notes  fly  off  as  from 
a  spindle;  and,  as  I  have  a  cheerful  heart.  He  will  pardon  me 
if  I  serve  Him  cheerfully."  No  wonder  he  said  to  Mozart, 
who  worried  about  the  aged  master's  going  to  England 
without  knowing  the  language,  "My  language  is  understood 
by  all  the  world." 

The  second  of  the  early  symphonists  was  Wolfgang  Ama- 
deus  Mozart,  born  in  Salzburg  on  Jan.  27th,  1756.  His 
father,  an  excellent  musician,  was  a  wise  guide  and  friend  to 
the  sensitive  boy  who  often  used  to  ask  him,  "Do  you  love 
me?"  and  whose  tears  came  instantly  if  a  negative  answer 
was  returned,  even  in  fun.  His  inborn  humility  kept  him 
modest  and  serious,  especially  in  the  practice  of  his  art. 

In  considering  Mozart's  career,  which  presents  one  of  the 
most  brilliant  phenomena  known  to  musical  history,  we  must 


236  Familiar  Talks  on  the  History  of  Music 

not  lose  sight  of  the  fact  that,  although  extraordinarily 
precocious  and  endowed  with  most  unusual  natural  gifts,  he 
owed  his  wonderful  artistic  success  in  no  small  measure  to 
his  father's  strict  and  thorough  discipline  and  to  the  stimu- 
lating musical  environment  in  which  his  life  from  earHest 
youth  was  spent.  He  was  one  of  the  rare  geniuses  of  the 
world.  Had  some  of  the  stories  told  of  him  not  been  so 
thoroughly  authenticated  by  reliable  witnesses,  we  might 
well  think  them  vagaries  of  some  fantastic  brain.  We  know 
that,  at  the  age  of  seven,  he  went  with  his  sister  and  father 
on  a  concert-tour  to  the  courts  of  Europe,  being  received 
everywhere  with  enthusiasm.  We  are  told  that  even  be- 
fore that  time,  at  a  string-quartet  rehearsal  at  his  home,  he 
asked  for  a  violin  and  permission  to  join  in,  and  that  when 
both  requests  were  granted  he  began  to  play  the  second 
violin  part,  and  soon  with  such  skill  that  the  regular  player 
laid  aside  his  instrument  and  allowed  the  boy  to  finish  the 
quartet.  We  know  of  his  feat  of  writing  from  memory, 
after  one  hearing,  the  celebrated  Miserere  of  Allegri,  that  was 
always  sung  on  Ash  Wednesday  at  St.  Peter's  church  in 
Rome.  We  know  of  the  surprise  which  he  gave  the  learned 
brethren  of  the  monastery  of  Bologna,  when  he  finished  their 
allotted  task  of  musical  composition,  which  usually  required 
hours  from  other  candidates,  in  less  than  fortv-five  minutes. 

We  know  that  he  wrote  the  violin-part  of  a  sonata  for 
violin  and  piano  on  the  day  that  it  was  performed,  and  played 
the  piano-part  from  the  blank  page.  W"e  know  that  he 
wrote  and  scored  the  overture  to  Do7i  Giovamii  in  one  night 
and  the  following  morning,  rehearsed  it  in  the  afternoon,  and 
performed  it  that  evening. 

Being  musically  an  exceedingly  receptive  child,  he  was 
given  his  first  clavier  instruction  at  the  age  of  four,  and  after 
two  years  acquired  not  only  considerable  skill  in  playing  the 
instrument,  but  wrote  some  small  pieces  for  it.  including  a 
little   sonata.     The   series   of   concert-tours,    covering   three 


The  Early  Symphonists  237 

years,  made  by  the  boy  and  his  sister  under  their  father's 
management,  began  with  a  trip  to  Munich  and  Vienna  in 
1762.  The  playing  of  the  children  created  a  sensation  in 
these  cities.  This  was  followed  in  1763  by  a  visit  to  France, 
where  they  gave  two  brilliant  concerts  at  the  court  of  Ver- 
sailles; four  sonatas  for  violin  and  harpsichord,  pubUshed 
in  Paris,  were  his  first  printed  works. 

They  proceeded  to  England,  where  they  remained  for  more 
than  a  year,  and  where  the  boy  gave  astonishing  exhibitions 
of  prima  vista  reading  which  secured  him  the  favor  and  ad- 
miration of  George  III  and  his  court. 

Upon  his  return  home  at  the  age  of  ten,  he  composed  his 
''Missa  Solemnis"  (which  was  performed  under  his  own 
direction),  his  first  symphonies  and  his  first  opera. 

At  the  age  of  seventeen,  still  accompanied  by  his  father,  he 
visited  Italy,  where  his  genius  was  promptly  recognized,  the 
Pope  conferring  honors  upon  him,  the  Philharmonic  Society 
of  Bologna  admitting  him  to  membership  after  an  examination 
which  had  deterred  many  musicians,  and  the  city  of  IMilan 
giving  his  opera  Milridate  a  number  of  performances  under 
his  own  direction. 

During  a  second  visit  to  Paris,  hoping  to  secure  operatic 
recognition,  he  witnessed  the  war  between  the  Gluckists  and 
Piccinists;  but,  finding  no  opportunity  to  be  heard,  and 
saddened  by  the  death  of  his  mother,  who  had  accompanied 
him  on  this  journey,  he  returned  to  his  home,  and  resumed 
the  position  of  concertmeister  (leader  of  the  orchestra)  to  the 
Archbishop  which  had  been  conferred  upon  him  in  previous 
years.  His  salary  here  being  quite  insufiicient.  he  decided 
to  take  up  his  abode  in  Vienna,  where  in  1782  he  wrote  the 
opera  Die  Entjilhrung  aus  dcni  Serail,  and  married  Con- 
stance Weber,  an  opera-singer. 

All  his  concertizing  and  operatic  labors,  while  securing  him 
universal  artistic  recognition  and  beautiful  presents,  failed  to 
bring  him  the  financial  rewards  necessary  to  relieve  his  constant 


27,8  Familiar  Talks  on  the  History  of  Music 

struggles  against  poverty.  We  have  already  spoken  at  some 
length  of  his  later  operas,  which  brought  upon  him  the  en- 
vious animosity  of  Italian  composers,  who  were  then  still  in 
operatic  control  in  Vienna,  and  made  his  life  a  burden. 
Finally  discouragement,  incessant  work  and  poverty  re- 
sulted in  his  death  on  December  5,  1791. 

Had  he,  during  life,  received  but  a  small  portion  of  the 
artistic  recognition  showered  upon  him  after  death,  we  can 
scarcely  conceive  what  he  might  have  accomplished  in  later 
years,  especially  when  we  remember  that  the  greatest  works 
of  Bach,  Handel,  Haydn  and  Beethoven  were  written  after 
they  had  passed  their  fortieth  year,  while  Mozart  died  at  the 
age  of  thirty-nine. 

While  Mozart  adopted  the  sonata-form  as  designed  by 
Haydn,  his  genius  and  individuality  enabled  him  to  imbue  it 
with  new  elements,  partly  suggested  by  his  close  affiliation 
with  the  Italian  operatic  style,  thus  giving,  especially  to  his 
''second  themes,"  a  more  graceful  cantahile  character. 

As  early  as  1789  he  abandoned  the  use  of  the  harpsichord 
for  concert  purposes  and  adopted  in  its  stead  the  piano- 
forte, then  manufactured  by  Stein  of  Augsburg.  The  form 
of  scale-fingering  fixed  by  Bach  and  his  son,  Philipp  Emanuel, 
enabling  the  performer  to  play  scales  with  agility,  coupled 
with  the  light  action  of  the  piano,  no  doubt  prompted  Mozart 
to  make  florid  scale-passages  the  basis  of  his  keyboard  vir- 
tuosity. 

His  compositions,  especially  in  the  slow  movements,  ex- 
hibit an  expressive  song-style  even  greater  than  that  of 
Haydn.  He  had  no  sympathy  with  most  contemporary 
pianists  on  account  of  their  tendency  toward  velocity,  and 
although  his  piano  works,  owing  to  the  development  of  the 
instrument,  have  long  been  surpassed  as  such,  their  value  as 
pure  music  will  always  remain. 

The  third  of  the  three  great  masters  responsible  for  the 
extraordinarily  rapid  development  of  instrumental  music  as 


The  Early  Symphonisls  239 

a  separate  division  of  the  art,  was  Beethoven.  Having  re- 
ceived the  musical  forms  with  their  classic  simplicity  and 
artistic  finish  from  the  hands  of  Haydn  and  Mozart,  his 
colossal  genius  enabled  him  to  fill  them  with  the  character- 
istics of  his  own  individuality  in  thought  and  expression. 
While  the  intention  of  the  French  and  Italians  had  been  the 
"combination  of  sounds  in  a  manner  agreeable  to  the  ear," 
with  Beethoven  the  art  of  music  became  the  vehicle  for  the 
expression  of  every  emotion. 

Ludwig  van  Beethoven  was  born  at  Bonn  on  the  i6th  of 
December,  1770,  of  humble  parentage,  his  mother  being  a 
domestic  and  his  father  a  tenor  singer  in  the  Electoral  choir. 
His  musical  education  was  taken  in  hand  in  his  fourth  year 
by  his  father,  a  strict  and  stern  master,  who  taught  him 
until  1779.  At  the  age  of  eight  he  had  learned  to  play  both 
the  piano  and  violin  very  well,  and  at  twelve  had  mastered 
Bach's  ''Well- tempered  Clavichord."  At  fourteen  he  be- 
came assistant  court  organist  at  Bonn,  and  in  1787  made  a 
visit  to  Vienna,  where  he  met  Mozart,  who,  after  hearing 
him  extemporize,  exclaimed,  "He  will  give  the  world  some- 
thing worth  listening  to!" 

Like  Haydn,  Beethoven  was  a  great  lover  of  nature,  and 
it  was  during  his  country  walks  that  he  made  the  sketches  of 
themes  for  future  works.  (These  ''sketch-books"  have  been 
gathered  together  and  published  by  Xottebohm.)  In  1792 
he  settled  permanently  in  Vienna,  where  he  received  in- 
struction from  Haydn,  who  praised  his  work  highly,  and 
also  from  Albrechtsberger,  whose  verdict  was,  "He  will  never 
do  anything  properly." 

At  Vienna  he  soon  became  a  member  of  the  highest  circles  of 
artists  and  art-lovers,  and  was  in  constant  demand  for  musicales 
and  soirees,  where  he  displayed  his  originality  in  extempore 
playing.  It  was  thus  he  met  the  Breuning  family  in  Bonn, 
through  whom  he  became  acquainted  with  the  best  German 
and  English  literature,  and  also  Count  Waldstein,  who  became 


240  Familiar  Talks  on  the  History  of  Music 

one  of  his  best  friends.  Appearances  as  a  concert  pianist 
soon  followed,  the  first  taking  place  in  Vienna  in  1795,  when 
he  played  his  first  piano  concerto,  and  another  shortly  after- 
ward in  BerHn,  before  Frederick  William  II,  to  whom,  in  ap- 
preciation of  favors  received,  he  dedicated  two  sonatas  for 
'cello  and  piano.  He  also  met  and  defeated  a  number  of 
rival  pianists  in  public  contests,  all  of  which  helped  to  spread 
his  reputation  as  a  musician  and  virtuoso. 

About  the  year  1800,  he  began  to  have  difficulty  in  hearing. 
As  early  as  18 16  he  was  obliged  to  use  an  ear- trumpet,  and 
by  1822  he  had  become  totally  deaf.  In  addition  to  this 
heavy  misfortune,  he  had  domestic  troubles  with  an  ungrate- 
ful nephew,  left  in  his  care  by  his  brother  Karl,  who  died  in 
181 5.  These  unfortunate  circumstances  helped  to  create 
within  him  a  feeling  of  distrust  that  was  visited  even  upon 
his  best  friends,  and,  being  very  ignorant  of  business  afifairs, 
he  was  continually  in  financial  trouble.  In  his  music  he  rose 
above  all  this  worry  and  affliction,  for  most  of  his  compositions 
of  that  time,  extending  to  Op.  90,  express  either  exuberant  joy 
or  serene  contemplation.  The  sonata-form  in  his  hands  re- 
ceived new  life  and  became  the  vehicle  of  his  emotions  instead 
of  a  mere  technical  system.  Sometimes  his  works  reflect 
the  joy  of  Hving,  at  other  times  they  express  the  most  in- 
tense passion,  but  they  are  always  full  of  the  virility  of  the 
man  who  fights  fate  and  fights  alone.  The  years  extending 
from  1800  to  181 5  are  usually  called  his  second  period  of 
activity  and  were  productive  of  six  of  his  nine  symphonies, 
beginning  with  the  "Eroica,"  his  only  opera,  Fidelio,  several 
overtures,  an  oratorio,  some  of  his  best  chamber  music,  his 
piano  concertos  in  G  and  E  flat,  and  many  sonatas.  The 
later  years  of  his  life,  spent  in  Vienna,  were  full  of  all  sorts 
of  worries,  resulting  in  a  despondency  which  nothing  seemed 
able  to  remove.  Although  his  financial  difficulties  had  prac- 
tically ceased  some  time  before,  he  thought  himself  constantly 
in  poverty  and  became  almost  unapproachable  even  to  his 


The  Early  Symphonists  241 

friends.  He  labored  unceasingly  on  his  compositions,  and 
his  later  works  undoubtedly  reflect  the  mental  struggles  of 
this  period.  In  December,  1826,  he  caught  a  severe  cold 
which  developed  into  pneumonia,  from  the  effects  of  which  he 
died  in  March,  1827,  surrounded  by  many  friends  and  mourned 
by  the  entire  world  of  music. 

His  greatest  works,  written  during  this  final  period,  include 
the  matchless  "Ninth  Symphony,"  with  its  choral  Finale, 
the  "Mass  in  Z),"  and  the  later  piano  sonatas,  all  of  which  are 
full  of  the  most  daring  flights  of  the  imagination.  His 
musical  progress  was  marked  by  much  abuse  from  contem- 
porary dilettanti  and  musicians  who  decried  his  unconven- 
tionality  of  expression,  but  whose  own  works  are  now  forgotten. 

Haydn,  Mozart  and  Beethoven  stand  on  an  equal  plane, 
in  their  labors  for  the  establishment  and  development  of  the 
symphony,  the  highest  musical  art-form,  for,  although  their 
ideals  were  quite  different,  they  all  endeavored  to  express  the 
beautiful,  and  each  succeeded  in  his  own  way. 

Haydn  created  Xht  Jorm  of  the  symphony,  with  the  idea  of 
a  second  theme  contrasting  with  the  first,  and  of  a  "Durch- 
fiihrungssatz  "  or  "working  out,"  as  it  is  called,  and  thus 
estabhshed  a  permanent  model  for  future  composers.  Mozart 
accepted  the  form  as  received  from  Haydn,  but  his  themes 
are  more  vocal  and  in  the  slow  movements  of  his  work  he  rises 
to  the  very  heights  of  refined,  exquisite  song  —  a  refinement 
like  that  of  the  face  of  Apollo,  free  from  passion  and  toil. 

Beethoven  was  also  capable  of  soaring  into  the  heights  of 
beautiful  song,  but  he  has  a  deeper  pathos  and  is  more  forcible 
and  impassioned  in  expressing  his  emotions.  His  was  a  strong 
soul,  storm-tossed  but  always  finally  triumphant,  and  this 
characteristic  stands  out  prominently  in  all  his  works.  He 
often  approaches  the  romantic,  for  he  lived  at  a  time  when 
romanticism  had  begun  to  stir  abroad,  and  when  the  soul-life 
of  man  was  beginning  to  receive  recognition. 


CHAPTER   XVII. 

THE  BEGINNING   OF  ROMANTICISM. 

We  have  seen  that  the  process  of  art  is  a  gradual  evolution 
which  is  the  result  of  a  clearer  perception  of  ideals.  This 
process  may  be  divided  into  three  periods,  the  symbolic,  the 
classic  and  the  romantic,  corresponding  to  similar  periods  in 
the  development  of  man.  Symbolic  art  is  Hmited  and  its 
meaning  is  not  always  clear.  It  is  often  incoherent  and 
formless. 

Classical  art  has  as  its  ideals  symmetry,  proportion,  and 
unity,  and  results  in  a  formal  beauty,  but  slightly  affected  by 
the  workings  of  the  inner  spirit. 

Eventually,  however,  the  soul  of  man  succeeded  in  asserting 
itself,  regardless  of  form,  and  the  consequent  free  expression 
of  the  emotions  ends  in  romanticism. 

The  works  of  Handel,  Bach,  Haydn,  Mozart  and  Beetho- 
ven form  what  is  generally  termed  "the  Classic  School,"  while 
those  of  Weber,  Marschner,  Schubert,  Mendelssohn,  Chopin 
and  Schumann  are  usually  designated  as  belonging  to  the 
"  Romantic  School." 

This  new  phase  of  musical  art,  resulting  from  the  trend  of 
current  thought  and  a  deep  emotional  unrest,  began  in 
Europe  towards  the  close  of  the  eighteenth  century,  and  was, 
like  the  Renaissance  of  the  sixteenth  century,  antagonistic 
to  those  things  which,  though  once  new,  had  become  conven- 
tional. The  revolt  against  tradition,  the  longing  to  return 
to  what  was  conceived  to  be  the  natural,  the  untrammeled, 
was  so  far-reaching,  that  it  extended  even  to  the  prevalent 
angular  landscape  gardening,  and  caused  a  return  to  the 
exhibition  of  the  natural  tendencies  of  plants  and  trees. 


The  Beginning  of  Romanticism  243 

It  was  this  same  antagonism  to  tradition  that  caused  the 
revolt  against  the  aristocracy  in  France.  The  question  was 
freely  asked;  "Should  a  man  be  king  because  his  father  was 
a  king?"  and  the  prompt  answer  was,  "No,  a  man  should 
be  king  only  if  he  is  a  king." 

This  questioning,  emotional  unrest  found  expression  in 
literature  and  art,  through  the  revelation  of  individual  thought 
and  feeling,  and  the  fearless  investigation  and  description  of 
all  that  related  to  man's  mental  and  emotional  life. 

The  contemplation  and  expression  of  truth  rather  than  of 
beauty  was  the  aim  of  these  writers.  They  boldly  declared 
their  point  of  view,  and  expressed  a  self-sufficient  motive 
for  their  deeds,  by  their  statement  that  "everything  belong- 
ing to  life  and  its  experiences  was  a  fit  subject  for  art,  so  that 
the  soul  might  learn  to  understand  itself  and  come  to  com- 
plete self-consciousness."  Their  motto  therefore  was,  "Noth- 
ing that  is  human  will  I  consider  as  foreign  to  me,"  and 
this  idea  became  the  basis  of  the  romantic  movement.  Music, 
the  most  subjective  of  all  the  arts,  became  the  medium  for  the 
expression  of  the  composer's  individual  emotions  or  moods, 
of  what  he  himself  thought  or  felt.  Romanticism  thus 
enlarged  the  realm  of  music  by  the  acquisition  of  a  portion 
of  the  domain  that  originally  belonged  to  poetry  and  espe- 
cially to  painting. 

The  student  of  pictorial  art  reciprocated  by  the  appropri- 
ation of  terms  belonging  originally  to  musical  art,  and  hence- 
forth spoke  of  the  "tone"  of  a  picture,  just  as  a  musician 
now  speaks  of  the  "color"  of  orchestration  or  harmony. 
The  romantic  composers  then  endeavored  to  represent  in 
music  a  picture  or  a  story,  both  originally  deemed  foreign  to 
its  province. 

This  purpose  in  itself  was  not  new,  having  already  been 
practised  to  a  degree  by  several  composers  of  the  Italian 
Renaissance  and  by  some  masters  of  the  Flemish  school,  such 
as  Gombert  and  Jannequin,  both  of  whom  in  their  vocal 


244  Familiar  Talks  on  the  History  of  Music 

compositions  described  scenes  and  occurrences.  The  latter 
composer  is  undoubtedly  the  first  who  exhibited  tone-paint- 
ing tendencies  to  a  marked  degree,  and  may  well  be  called 
the  earliest  Romanticist.  To  be  sure,  many  of  his  works  of 
this  class  are  but  imitations  of  nature,  but  even  as  such  they 
are  representations  of  occurrences  outside  the  domain  of 
music.  His  choruses,  introducing  the  cries  of  the  street- 
venders  of  Paris  ("Cris  de  Paris")  and  the  approach  of  the 
troops  with  their  bugle-calls  and  clanking  of  swords  ("La 
Bataille"),  are  excellent  examples  of  tone-painting,  though 
the  medium  at  his  command  was  entirely  vocal  and  they  were 
written  in  the  a  cappella  song-style.  Among  many  similar 
works  we  might  also  mention  his  "Songs  of  War  and  the 
Chase,"  "Bird  Songs,"  "The  Lark  and  the  Nightingale," 
"Jealousy,"  "The  Gossiping  Ladies"  (a  five-part  song),  and 
' '  The  Stag-hunt ' '  (a  seven-part  song) .  All  these  compositions 
belong  to  the  class  that  is  now  called  "Program  music,"  an 
outgrowth  of  the  romantic  spirit. 

The  antagonism  to  things  traditional  may  thus  be  said  to 
have  begun  in  France,  whose  litterateurs  and  poets  toward 
the  close  of  the  eighteenth  century  caused  the  equilibrium  of 
society  to  be  disturbed  by  their  radicalism.  They  preached 
"liberty,  equality,  fraternity"  and  enthroned  reason  above 
all  things  terrestrial. 

Their  antagonism  to  conventionality  was  so  rabid  that  they 
even  changed  the  names  of  the  days  of  the  week  and  the 
months  of  the  year,  as  being  reminiscent  of  mythology,  and 
instituted  a  new  era  dating  from  the  beginning  of  the  great 
revolution. 

It  was  because  of  this  antagonism  to  the  artificial  that  the 
"opera  bouffe, "  which  dealt  with  human  foibles  and  follies, 
and  burlesqued  everything  conventional,  found  such  a  con- 
genial home  in  France  during  that  period. 

This  revolt  against  the  conventional  quickly  spread  to 
England  and  Germany,   whose  bold  literary  spirits  almost 


The  Beginning  of  Romanticism  245 


immediately  adopted  the  new  motto  and  began  to  express 
themselves  in  the  new  manner. 

Exponents  of  the  art  of  music,  such  as  Weber  and  Marsch- 
ner  and  their  librettists,  being  naturally  very  sensitive  to  the 
emotional  atmosphere  of  their  environment  and  in  close 
sympathy  with  the  general  public,  exhibited  their  appre- 
ciation of  the  new  mode  of  thought  in  their  operas,  which  at 
once  met  with  pubUc  favor. 

During  this  period  of  emotional  unrest  was  born,  in  1797, 
Franz  Schubert,  usually  called  the  father  of  romanticism  in 
music.  He  was  one  of  nineteen  children  whose  father  was  a 
school-teacher  in  Lichtenthal,  a  suburb  of  Vienna,  where  the 
family  lived.  The  pay  of  a  schoolmaster  was  then,  as  now, 
comparatively  small,  and  insufficient  for  the  needs  of  a  large 
family.  Therefore,  as  soon  as  they  were  old  enough,  the 
sons  of  the  house  also  taught  school  and  helped  to  eke  out 
the  slender  paternal  income.  From  his  father  Schubert  re- 
ceived his  first  lessons  in  playing  the  violin  and  piano,  and 
from  the  choir-master  of  the  parish  school  some  superficial 
instruction  in  theory.  Having  a  very  good  voice,  he  was 
entered  as  chorister  in  the  boys'  school  connected  with 
St.  Stephen's  Cathedral,  the  same  where  Haydn  had  been  so 
unhappy.  As  chorister,  he  was  entitled  to  a  home  in  the 
school  and  a  general  education,  which  included  instruction  in 
singing  and  in  playing  the  piano  and  violin,  and  practice  in 
the  school  orchestra  which  he  occasionally  was  permitted  to 
conduct.  His  music-lessons  were  rather  limited  in  scope, 
and,  to  the  eager  youngster,  unsatisfactory  because  they  did 
not  include  information  regarding  theory,  harmony  and  com- 
position. As  he  had  youthful  dreams  of  following  in  the 
footsteps  of  Beethoven,  whom  he  revered,  he  bought  IMat- 
theson's  "Complete  Music-Director"  and  a  text-book  on 
harmony  and  taught  himself  as  far  as  he  was  able.  Romantic 
stories  were  his  delight,  and  at  the  age  of  13  he  wrote  a  musi- 
cal setting  of  "The  Lament  of  Hagar  in  the  Wilderness," 


246  Familiar  Talks  on  the  History  of  Music 

and  a  "Corpse  Fantasy"  in  which  he  attempted  to  depict 
the  ghostly,  shadowy  effect  produced  by  the  Hght  of  the 
candles  around  the  bier  of  death.  Everything  fantastic, 
supernatural,  unexplainable  or  highly  emotional,  appealed  to 
him  as  demanding  musical  expression.  His  youthful  oppor- 
tunities for  hearing  music  were  limited  to  those  furnished  by 
the  church  services,  for  he  never  heard  a  first-class  secular 
work  until  he  was  fifteen,  and  no  opera  until  he  was  seventeen. 

Nevertheless,  as  soon  as  he  left  this  choir-school,  at  the 
age  of  sixteen,  to  assist  his  father  in  teaching,  his  genius  for 
composition  began  to  manifest  itself.  At  seventeen  he  had 
written  his  first  Mass,  which,  despite  his  lack  of  musical 
training,  is  one  of  the  greatest  ever  written  and  is  generally 
conceded  to  be  excelled  only  by  that  of  Bach  in  B  minor  and 
that  of  Beethoven  in  D  major. 

A  sort  of  rage  for  composition  seems  to  have  possessed  him, 
and,  as  Schumann  has  said,  almost  everything  he  touched  he 
turned  into  music.  As  an  example  of  this,  we  might  cite  the 
accredited  story  of  an  occurrence  at  the  home  of  a  certain 
court  official  in  Vienna.  One  morning,  while  waiting  in  an 
anteroom  of  the  ofi&ce,  where  he  had  been  sent  on  an  im- 
portant errand,  Schubert  found  on  the  table  a  new  volume  of 
poems  by  Miiller.  Upon  opening  the  book,  he  became  so  in- 
terested in  its  contents  that  he  forgot  his  mission,  left  the 
anteroom,  took  the  book  home  with  him,  and  before  night 
composed  that  splendid  series  of  songs  entitled  the  "Miiller- 
Lieder,"  sometimes  called  ''Die  schone  Miillerin,"  which 
usually  begins  the  first  volume  of  Schubert's  songs.  That  his 
desire  for  composition  amounted  almost  to  a  mania  is  proved 
by  the  fact  that  although  he  died  when  but  31,  he  left  be- 
hind him  several  masses  and  symphonies,  many  piano  works, 
a  number  of  choral  works  and  more  than  six  hundred  songs. 
His  genius  so  clarified  his  thoughts  that  scarcely  an  erasure  is 
found  in  his  hundreds  of  manuscripts,  which  are  so  clear  and 
distinct  as  to  be  a  deUght  to  the  eye.     His  inspiration  was  so 


The  Beginning  of  Romanticism  247 

continuous  that  the  music  came  as  fast  as  he  could  write. 
As  a  consequence,  many  of  his  compositions  sound  like  im- 
provisations. 

The  songs,  especially,  seem  to  have  been  conceived  in  one 
flash,  a  lightning-like  understanding  of  the  text.  Immedi- 
ately after  his  reading  of  a  poem,  his  genius  produced  a  suit- 
able melody,  with  its  harmonic  coloring  of  accompaniment, 
from  the  beginning  to  the  end,  so  that  his  songs  were  what 
the  Germans  call  "  durchkomponiert "  (composed  straight 
through),  and  are,  therefore,  the  first  examples  of  the  "art- 
song,"  a  form  of  which  he  is  called  the  father.  The  real 
folk-song,  as  we  know,  consists  of  several  stanzas,  each  with 
the  same  melody  and  accompaniment,  but  in  the  art-song, 
though  the  musical  settings  of  the  stanzas  may  resemble 
each  other,  they  are  not  alike,  but  individually  follow  the 
varying  moods  of  the  text. 

Constant  poverty  during  Schubert's  childhood  and  manhood, 
continuing  even  to  his  death,  premature  hard  work  and  lack 
of  public  recognition,  and  a  naturally  retiring  disposition, 
made  him  self-conscious  and  bashful,  and  because  of  the  lack 
of  proper  instruction  in  his  youth  under  recognized  masters, 
he  had  no  abiding  faith  in  his  own  gifts  and  powers.  At  one 
time  he  visited  Beethoven,  with  some  of  his  quartets,  hoping 
to  receive  corrections,  suggestions  or  criticisms.  Knowing 
of  the  great  master's  deafness,  he  timidly  wrote  his  request 
on  Beethoven's  ever-present  tablets.  The  great  symphonist 
looked  through  some  of  the  works  presented,  was  much  im- 
pressed, and  began  to  compliment  the  bashful  young  man,  but 
he,  awed  by  the  near  presence  of  the  master  whom  he  revered, 
and  unable  to  imagine  that  he  had  done  anything  which 
deserved  commendation,  fled  from  the  house,  leaving  his 
quartets  behind  him.  The  same  timidity,  added  to  the 
consciousness  of  his  poverty,  prevented  him  from  declaring 
his  love  to  a  young  lady  of  noble  birth  of  whom  he  became 
deeply  enamoured. 


248  Familiar  Talks  on  the  History  of  Music 

He  was  very  short  of  stature,  being  but  five  feet  and  one 
inch  in  height,  very  broad  and  stout,  and,  because  of  much 
youthful  writing,  very  round-shouldered.  He  had  thick, 
broad  fingers,  black  hair,  bushy  eyebrows,  all  combining  to 
make  him  a  rather  insignificant-looking  man.  His  eyes, 
however,  were  very  brilliant  and  deep-set  and  when  he  spoke 
of  his  art,  his  face  became  transformed.  He  always  wore 
glasses  and  was  so  helpless  without  them  that  he  is  said  to 
have  slept  in  them.  He  was  so  poor,  that  when,  after  his 
death,  which  occurred  November  19,  1828,  his  household 
efifects,  including  his  piano,  were  sold  at  pubHc  auction,  they 
brought  the  incredibly  small  sum  of  $120. 

The  second  of  the  great  German  romantic  composers  was 
Felix  Mendelssohn-Bartholdy,  born  in  1809.  As  the  son  of  a 
wealthy  philosopher-banker,  his  life  presents  a  vivid  material 
contrast  to  that  of  Schubert.  He  was  brought  up  in  an 
atmosphere  of  artistic  and  literary  culture,  in  which  he  en- 
joyed the  friendship  of  Weber,  who  adored  him,  of  Goethe 
and  of  Herder.  He  was  given  every  opportunity  afforded  by  a 
thorough  education,  general  as  well  as  musical.  Time  and 
space  forbid  anything  but  a  cursory  view  of  his  life,  and  we 
shall  only  endeavor  to  fix  his  place  in  the  world  of  musical  art 
by  a  comparison  of  his  works  with  those  of  others. 

Like  Schubert,  he  had  a  sort  of  mania  for  composition, 
though  not  in  the  same  degree.  At  twenty  he  had  written 
two  symphonies,  several  quartets  and  operas,  and  the  immortal 
overture  to  Shakespeare's  "Midsummer  Night's  Dream,'' 
which  is  romantic  and  fantastic  in  the  extreme  and  in  which 
he  paints  with  an  exquisite  brush.  His  works,  compared 
with  those  of  Beethoven,  are  as  those  of  an  extraordinarily 
gifted  young  man,  whom  we  know  personally,  compared  with 
those  of  a  sorrowing  god,  whose  intellectual  and  emotional 
domain  is  difficult  of  approach  and  almost  impossible  of 
entrance.  Beethoven  is  like  a  wild,  almost  impenetrable  for- 
est, in  which  are  heard  sounds  primeval;   while  IMendelssohn 


The  Beginning  of  Romanticism  249 

is  like  a  handsome  park  easy  of  entrance,  and  full  of  beautiful 
cultivated  flowers. 

His  musical  instincts  were  those  of  a  man  whose  culture 
united  refined  taste,  consummate  knowledge  and  great 
artistic  gifts.  If  we  except  his  "Midsummer  Night's  Dream " 
music,  his  was  a  slow,  steady  growth  without  the  spontaneous 
outbursts  of  a  Schubert  or  the  titanic  flashes  of  a  Beethoven. 
He  was  taught  the  technique  and  form  of  his  art  in  a  most 
thorough  manner,  and  he  was  also  taught  a  deep  reverence  for 
law,  duty  and  order,  which,  however,  did  not  deter  his  im- 
pressionable soul  from  a  free  entrance  into  the  field  of  roman- 
ticism which  Schubert,  Weber  and  Beethoven  had  explored 
and  adorned. 

Nature,  environment  and  education  combined  to  give  him 
a  fine  appreciation  of  plastic  beauty  and  musical  form,  and 
this  is  visible  in  all  his  works,  whatever  be  their  emotional 
content. 

His  various  travels,  and  the  physical  and  emotional  impres- 
sions thus  obtained,  are  reflected  in  many  of  his  works,  such 
as  his  ''Italian"  and  "Scotch"  symphonies,  and  his  over- 
tures, "Melusine,"  the  "Hebrides,"  and  "Fingal's  Cave." 
His  visits  to  England  and  his  consequent  hearing  of  Handel's 
great  oratorios  resulted  in  St.  Paul,  Elijah,  and  the  "Hymn 
of  Praise." 

Recognizing  his  lack  of  power  to  emulate  Schubert's  immor- 
tal songs,  he  wrote  his  "Songs  without  Words,"  which  reflect 
various  moods  engendered  by  poetry  or  environment,  and 
which  are  charming  contributions  to  piano  literature. 

In  spite  of  h\s  Antigone,  (Edipus  SindAthalie.  written  by  royal 
commission,  it  must  be  conceded  that  most  of  his  works  show 
a  lack  of  epic  force.  But  the  exuberance  of  his  lyric  faculty, 
blended  with  emotional  variety,  enabled  him  to  express 
himself  in  the  most  charming  plastic  forms.  To  appreciate 
this  we  need  but  listen  to  his  happy  dissertation  on  Die 
schbne  Melusine,  and  the  delightful  introduction  to  his  "Calm 


250  Familiar  Talks  on  the  History  of  Music 

Sea  and  Prosperous  Voyage,"  which  in  itself  is  a  fairy  tale 
expressed  in  tones. 

A  German  writer  has  said,  "He  had  not  only  a  genius  for 
living  but  also  for  dying."  His  last  work,  Elijah,  was  also  his 
greatest,  and  he  died  when  his  fame  had  reached  its  zenith, 
at  the  age  of  t,^. 

Of  the  romantic  opera-writers  in  the  first  part  of  the  nine- 
teenth century,  Weber,  Marschner,  Spontini,  and  Spohr,  we 
have  spoken  previously.  Berlioz  will  be  considered  later; 
but  we  must  now  take  up  the  life  of  the  third  of  the  three 
great  early  romanticists,  Robert  Schumann. 

Born  at  Zwickau,  Saxony,  in  1810,  the  son  of  a  bookseller, 
he  was  brought  up  chiefly  on  the  intellectual  food  furnished 
by  the  exponents  of  romantic  literature.  Even  while  in 
school,  he  gave  evidences  of  his  ability  to  express  as  much  in 
a  few  notes  as  a  cartoonist  can  with  a  few  lines. 

His  biographers  have  given  so  many  interesting  details  of 
the  man,  that  we  will  occupy  ourselves  only  with  the  musician 
and  his  art.  We  shall,  therefore,  consider  only  his  works  and 
their  principal  characteristics. 

In  these  he  has  glorified  every  phase  of  life  from  youth  to 
manhood.  His  "  Kinderscenen "  lead  us  back  into  the  days 
when  we  believed  in  fairies  and  kobolds,  into  the  days  of  chil- 
dren's games  and  the  bright  blossoms  of  springtime,  and  our 
first  dreams  of  "castles  in  Spain."  He  transports  us  through 
these  scenes  and  memories  into  early  student-life  with  its  fan- 
tastic ideas  and  associations,  expressed  in  the  "  Kreisleriana " 
and  the  "Davidsbiindlertanze;"  through  the  scenes  of  early 
manhood  with  "Carnaval"  and  "  Liebesfriihling; "  into  the  pure 
joys  of  wedded  bliss  with  "Frauenliebe  und  -Leben,"  and  brings 
us  to'mature  reflection  in  his  "Dichterliebe,"  "Romanzen  und 
Balladen,"  perhaps  the  greatest  of  all  his  song-cycles. 

Even  in  his  earliest  works  we  note  his  gift  of  condensed 
thought,  of  expressing  much  in  few  tones.  Every  stroke  of 
his  musical  brush  creates  a  small  domain.     In  "Warum?"  he 


The  Beginning  of  Romanticism  251 

asks  more  questions  in  a  few  measures  than  many  have 
asked  in  pages  upon  pages.  Schumann  is  the  creator  of  this 
miniature  form  of  musical  utterance.  All  his  early  works  are 
full  to  the  brim  with  warm  enthusiasm,  vigorous  idealism, 
and  the  romantic  desire  to  wander  from  the  beaten  path  into 
self-chosen  solitude,  peopled  only  with  the  creatures  of  his 
fancy.  His  "Intermezzi,"  "Papillons,"  "Fantasie-Stiicke," 
''Nacht-Stiicke,"  and  "Faschingsschwank,"  are  fine  examples 
of  this  spirit,  and  these  alone  would  make  his  name  immortal, 
not  only  for  their  inherent  excellence  but  also  because  they 
made  the  piano  an  instrument  for  the  expression  of  poetry,  of 
tone-painting.  As  he  passed  into  robust  manhood,  his 
genius  required  broader  forms  of  expression,  such  as  are  to  be 
found  in  the  "Fantasie"  and  G-minor  Sonata,  as  well  as  in  his 
earlier  songs,  all  of  which  show  a  deepening  of  the  emo- 
tional life.  Most  of  the  songs  and  song-cycles  mentioned 
above  were  written  at  or  before  the  age  of  thirty.  He  had 
in  even  greater  m^sasure  than  Schubert  the  gift  of  absorbing 
the  "locale"  of  a  poem  and  of  describing  it  as  if  it  were  a 
personal  experience.  This  gift  is  nowhere  in  greater  evidence 
than  in  "In  der  Fremde,"  where  he  paints  with  a  few  chords 
the  "lovely  forest  solitude,"  and  in  the  "Mondnacht,"  where 
he  depicts  the  "silent  kiss  of  Heaven  given  to  Earth."  Fa- 
miliar poems,  already  popular  as  songs,  received  at  his  hands 
a  setting  quite  new  and  apparently  strange,  but  often  reveal- 
ing what  the  poet  had  left  unspoken. 

When,  after  several  years  of  waiting,  he  had  secured  Clara 
Wieck  as  his  bride,  he  began  the  composition  of  his  greatest 
works,  which  include  the  Piano  Concerto,  the  quartets  and 
symphonies,  as  well  as  the  "Frauenliebe  und  -Leben"  and  the 
"Dichterliebe."  In  these  he  shows  maturity,  and  the  con- 
clusion of  his  musical  thought.  The  B  ?  Symphony,  though  his 
first  effort  in  this  form,  is  like  the  fragrant  breath  of  a  pine 
forest  in  which  sunbeams  are  at  play.  It  is,  as  it  were,  the 
musical  embodiment  of  a  honevmoon. 


252  Familiar  Talks  on  the  History  of  Music 


His  greatest  piano  works  are  undoubtedly  the  Piano  Con- 
certo and  the  "Variations,"  both  full  of  a  delightful  roman- 
ticism that  charms  at  the  first  hearing. 

In  middle  life  he  began  to  exhibit  an  unaccountable  moodi- 
ness that  was  manifested  in  various  ways,  and  was  really  the 
prophetic  foreshadowing  of  the  catastrophe  that  overtook 
him  before  the  end.  That  he  lived  much  within  himself  is 
well  known.  It  is  related  of  him  that  he  often  visited  friends 
in  the  evening,  and  that  on  such  occasions  he  would  some- 
times sit  for  more  than  two  hours  in  silence,  oblivious  of  his 
surroundings,  and  would  then  rise  and  express  the  pleasure  he 
had  received  from  his  call.  This  moodiness  to  which  we  have 
referred  was  undoubtedly  the  first  symptom  of  that  insanity 
which  later  caused  him  to  attempt  suicide  on  two  different 
occasions  and  finally  necessitated  his  confinement  in  an 
asylum,  where  he  died  in  1856. 

His  art  and  the  spread  of  his  ideas  caused  an  upheaval,  not 
only  in  Germany,  but  in  all  European  music,  such  as  we  can 
hardly  realize.  The  younger  generation  of  musicians  en- 
thusiastically followed  in  his  footsteps,  and  there  resulted  a 
real  Schumann  style  of  composition,  which  was  distinctly  a 
new  type  of  emotional  utterance. 

As  a  picturesque  writer,  a  critic-composer,  cultivated  in 
literature,  philosophy,  poetry  and  music,  he  was  a  new 
force  in  the  musical  world.  Shy  and  reserved,  and  there- 
fore not  fond  of  society,  he  talked  little,  but  observed 
and  wrote  much.  His  musical  criticisms  are  models  of  that 
form  of  writing,  and  his  articles  on  serious  young  com- 
posers and  their  early  works,  collected  in  his  "Music  and 
Musicians,"  aided  materially  in  their  pubhc  recognition  and 
appreciation. 

Schumann  still  has  many  followers,  and  his  influence  is 
visible  in  many  of  the  works  of  modern  composers. 

Through  the  romantic  movement  the  art  of  music  acquired 
not  only  new  material  but  new  forms  of  expression. 


The  Beginning  of  Romanticism  253 

Schubert's  creative  genius,  unhampered  by  his  limited 
knowledge  of  the  academic  rules  of  music,  gave  an  imperish- 
able legacy  to  the  musical  world.  Realizing  his  imperfect 
training  in  the  larger  forms,  he  expressed  himself  in  the  more 
modest  styles  of  the  short  piece  for  the  piano  and  the  song, 
where  his  abundance  of  poetry  and  imagin^ion  had  free  rein 
in  a  wholly  new  field.  The  effect  of  his  labors  in  the  romantic 
field  and  especially  in  the  creation  of  the  art-song  is  inesti- 
mable, and  it  has  been  truly  said,  "There  has  never  been  one 
like  him  and  there  never  will  be  another." 

Mendelssohn,  with  his  superb  classic  training,  adhered 
more  to  that  form  of  expression;  and  his  variety  of  emotion, 
though  apparently  limited,  is  clearly  visible  in  his  earlier 
works  and  his  smaller  pieces,  which  are  essentially  lyric. 

Schumann,  the  admirer  and  follower  of  Schubert,  although 
he  wrote  much  in  the  sonata-form,  is  at  his  best  in  his  later 
songs,  and  in  the  romantic  shorter  piano  pieces,  where  he 
shows  a  variety  of  original  and  free  expression  that  is  ex- 
celled only  by  Chopin. 


CHAPTER   XVIII. 

THE  DEVELOPMENT   OF  ROMANTICISM,  AND  THE  ADVENT 
OF  THE  GREAT  VIRTUOSI. 

The  romantic  spirit  which  found  an  outlet  in  the  songs  of 
Schubert,  the  operas  of  Weber  and  Marschner,  the  fantastic 
piano  pieces  of  Schumann,  and  the  fairy-Hke  elegance  of 
Mendelssohn,  made  its  appeal  to  an  eager,  attentive  and 
sympathetic  public,  largely  imbued  with  the  same  feeling 
of  unrest.  It  seemed  as  if  the  world  had  been  waiting  for 
just  that  kind  of  musical  utterance. 

This  appreciation  on  the  part  of  the  public  was  aided  in  no 
small  degree  by  the  timely  advent  of  a  new  school  of  vir- 
tuosi of  the  violin,  piano  and  other  instruments.  During  the 
seventeenth  century,  the  perfecting  of  the  organ  had  made 
possible  a  virtuosity  never  before  known,  and  such  splendid 
players  as  SweeHnck,  Frescobaldi,  Reinken  and  Buxtehude 
are  still  remembered  for  their  complete  mastery  of  the  in- 
strument. 

The  works  of  Vivaldi  and  Corelli  had  already  made  great 
demands  upon  the  skill  of  ambitious  violinists,  while  Dome- 
nico  Scarlatti,  Rameau,  Bach  and  Handel  were  not  only 
themselves  virtuosi  on  the  harpsichord,  but  created  a  new 
style  of  playing  which  made  great  demands  in  the  direction 
of  technique  and  coloring  of  tone,  so  that  when  the  piano- 
forte finally  outrivaled  the  clavichord  and  harpsichord,  the 
works  of  these  masters  were  found  to  be  equally  adapted  to 
the  new  instrument. 

The  slow  movements  of  Haydn's  sonatas  for  piano  de- 
manded a  still  greater  coloring  of  tone.  As  they  usually  con- 
sisted of  some  sort  of  fantasia,  or  theme  with  variations,  it 

254 


The  Development  of  Romanticism  255 

was  the  performer's  task  to  impart  to  each  of  the  different 
sequences  and  changes  a  different  tone-color,  thus  making 
them  more  interesting. 

Mozart  gave  us  the  Adagio  upon  the  piano,  as  a  song  in 
soulful  style.  Then  came  Beethoven,  who  ushered  in  a 
new  era  in  piano-playing,  not  only  through  his  compositions 
but  through  his  own  performances,  in  which  he  excelled  all 
others  of  his  time.  He  embodied  the  spirit  of  romanticism 
in  his  later  piano  compositions,  treating  the  instrument  with 
a  mingling  of  boldness,  delicacy  and  poetry  that  taxes  the 
ability  of  the  greatest  artists  of  to-day.  Chopin,  Schumann 
and  Liszt  demand  little  more  from  the  pianist  in  certain 
directions  than  did  Beethoven  in  his  sonatas  and  concertos. 

Early  in  the  nineteenth  century  there  flourished  a  number 
of  other  eminent  piano  virtuosi,  exponents  of  the  classical 
style,  some  of  whom  had  a  decided  influence  upon  the  com- 
posers for  that  instrument;  and  among  these  we  must  men- 
tion Clementi,  Field,  Cramer,  Berger,  Moscheles,  Hummel, 
Dussek  and  Czerny. 

Muzio  Clementi  (1752-1832),  born  at  Rome  four  years  be- 
fore Mozart  and  outliving  Beethoven,  met  during  his  youth 
a  traveUng  English  amateur  who  became  interested  in  the 
boy  and  took  him  to  England.  At  the  age  of  18  he  created  a 
furore  in  London  by  his  facile  technique.  Shortly  after- 
wards he  published  his  first  sonatas  and  in  1777  was  ap- 
pointed conductor  of  the  Italian  Opera  in  London.  In  1781 
he  began  to  concertize,  and  startled  the  world  with  his  play- 
ing. On  this  tour  he  met  Mozart  in  Vienna,  and  there,  at  a 
pianistic  contest  between  the  two  virtuosi,  it  was  conceded 
that  his  playing  was  the  more  brilliant  but  that  ]Mozart  had 
the  more  beautiful  touch  and  singing  style.  As  a  result  of 
this  contest  dementi's  compositions  became  more  musical, 
decidedly  influencing  Beethoven,  while  his  playing  showed 
more  feeling.  He  made  several  other  concert-tours,  includ- 
ing  two   to   St.    Petersburg,    and   was   generally   successful. 


256  Familiar  Talks  on  the  History  of  Music 

Most  of  his  life,  however,  was  spent  in  London,  where  he 
founded  a  piano-manufactory  and  also  spent  much  time  in 
teaching.  Many  of  his  sonatas  are  virile  in  the  extreme. 
His  greatest  pedagogic  work  is  the  ''Gradus  ad  Parnassum," 
a  series  of  100  piano-studies  in  all  styles. 

One  of  his  famous  pupils  was  John  Field  (1782-183 7),  at 
the  age  of  ten  already  a  musical  prodigy  at  Dublin.  This 
excellent  virtuoso  took  even  Paris  by  storm  by  his  masterly 
playing  of  Bach's  fugues.  At  the  age  of  20  he  accompanied 
Clementi  to  Russia,  and  labored  for  many  years  as  composer 
and  teacher.  It  was  there  that  he  conceived  the  form  of  the 
Nocturne,  an  expression  of  his  feeling  for  the  romantic  which 
found  general  favor,  and  was  later  magnificently  developed 
by  Chopin. 

Another  of  dementi's  celebrated  pupils  was  Johann 
Baptist  Cramer  (1771-1858),  born  at  Mannheim  in  Germany. 
He  was  also  a  precocious  pianist,  and  at  the  age  of  10  began  a 
tour  of  Europe,  during  which  he  met  Haydn  and  Beethoven, 
to  whose  style  of  playing  he  remained  true  in  spite  of  the 
surging  waves  of  pianistic  progress  which  agitated  the  musi- 
cal world  during  the  first  half  of  the  nineteenth  century. 

Another  excellent  pianist  of  the  period  was  Johann  Ne- 
pomuk  Hummel  (i 778-1837),  for  a  while  an  inmate  of 
Mozart's  home  as  his  pupil,  an  intimate  friend  of  Beethoven's 
and  the  successor  of  Haydn  at  the  home  of  the  Esterhazys.  In 
composition  he  followed  the  style  of  Mozart;  he  had  a  decided 
gift  for  improvisation,  and  was  very  successful  as  a  teacher. 

Johann  Ladislaus  Dussek  (i 761-18 12),  the  first  Bohemian 
musician  of  prominence,  was  another  virtuoso  of  the  time  of 
Clementi.  Many  of  his  works,  exhibiting  his  love  and  ap- 
preciation of  a  "singing  tone"  on  the  piano,  are  very  well 
known. 

Ludwig  Berger  (1777-1839),  although  an  excellent  player, 
is  more  especially  remembered  as  the  teacher  of  Mendelssohn, 
Taubert,  Fanny  Hensel,  Herzberg,  and  many  other  pianists. 


The  Development  of  Romanticism  257 


The  last  two  virtuosi  representing  the  classical  tradition  of 
the  piano  were  Karl  Czerny  (1791-1857),  a  pupil  of  Beet- 
hoven and  a  follower  of  the  styles  of  Clementi  and  Hummel, 
best  known  through  his  technical  studies;  and  Ignaz  Moscheles 
(1794-1870),  a  Bohemian,  a  brilliant  concert  pianist,  and  for 
many  years  a  teacher  at  the  Leipzig  conservatory.  He  was 
an  intimate  friend  of  Beethoven,  after  whose  death  he  was  con- 
sidered the  best  representative  of  that  master's  style  of  play- 
ing. As  a  composer  he  never  advanced  beyond  the  Clementi 
principles,  romantic  works  remaining  to  him  as  sealed  books. 

During  the  time  of  these  classical  piano  virtuosi,  highly 
cultivated  players  of  orchestral  instruments  also  demanded 
and  received  the  attention  of  the  musical  public.  Among 
the  violinists  of  the  last  part  of  the  eighteenth  century,  the 
successors  of  Tartini  and  Leclair,  must  especially  be  noted 
Giovanni  Battista  Viotti  (1753-1824),  the  connecting-Unk 
between  the  old  and  new  schools  of  violin-playing.  A  large 
number  of  his  pupils  followed  in  his  footsteps,  from  among 
whom  we  may  single  out  Pierre  Rode  (i 774-1830),  a  violinist 
of  great  power  and  renown  in  his  day  and  the  author  of  many 
excellent  works  for  his  instrument.  But  the  greatest  violin- 
ist of  the  early  nineteenth  century  and  possibly  of  all  time 
was  Niccolo  Paganini  (i 782-1840),  born  at  Genoa,  the  child 
of  very  poor  parents.  His  gift  for  violin-playing  amounted 
to  genius.  During  his  career  of  thirty  years  he  appeared 
repeatedly  in  every  city  of  Europe  and  was  universally  re- 
ceived with  the  utmost  enthusiasm,  his  production  of  unusual 
effects  upon  his  instrument  earning  for  him  the  sobriquet  of 
"the  child  of  the  devil."  His  playing  had  a  great  and  varied 
influence  that  was  directly  felt,  not  only  in  the  orchestra,  but 
also  in  the  domain  of  composition  and  pianism,  both  Schu- 
mann and  Liszt  being  affected  by  it.  His  own  compositions, 
while  not  great  artistically,  on  account  of  his  limited  musical 
training,  are  clever  show-pieces,  sensational  and  at  times  pas- 
sionate, and  his  caprices,  together  with  the  sonatas  of  Bach. 


258  Familiar  Talks  on  the  History  of  Music 

form  the  basis  of  modern  violin-playing.  His  tremendous 
success  was  sought  in  vain  by  a  host  of  immediate  followers 
and  imitators,  many  of  whom  approached  him  in  briUiancy 
of  technique,  but  none  of  whom  possessed  his  distinctive 
genius  for  the  violin. 

One  of  his  most  brilliant  contemporaries,  but  one  who  was 
not  in  sympathy  with  his  sensational  style,  was  Ludwig 
Spohr  ( 1 784-1859),  an  excellent  musician  as  well  as  a  great 
violinist,  following  in  the  footsteps  of  Rode.  He  was  a  friend 
of  Mendelssohn  and  one  of  the  first  to  recognize  in  a  small 
measure  the  genius  of  Wagner,  As  a  composer,  he  followed 
the  classical  lines  of  Mozart,  although  he  shows  the  influence 
of  romanticism  in  the  display  of  considerable  imagination. 

Other  virtuosi  than  those  of  the  violin  and  piano  were  not 
wanting  during  this  time,  and  many  might  be  mentioned 
who  distinguished  themselves  as  artists  upon  the  flute,  oboe, 
clarinet,  horn  and  harp. 

Their  artistry  was  observed,  appreciated  and  utilized  by 
another  virtuoso,  one  who  played  upon  the  orchestra  as  a 
whole,  Hector  Berlioz  (i 803-1 864),  the  founder  of  the  gran- 
diose style,  and  the  father  of  modern  orchestration.  He  was 
the  first  orchestral  composer  who  really  made  an  exhaustive 
study  of  the  technical  capacity  and  musical  personality  of 
the  various  orchestral  instruments,  and  thus  was  able  to 
suggest  many  of  their  improvements.  His  extraordinary  ap- 
preciation of  tone-color  amounted  to  genius  and  enabled  him 
to  conceive  and  produce  marvelous  orchestral  effects.  In  his 
larger  works,  such  as  the  "Damnation  of  Faust"  and  the 
*' Requiem,"  he  reveals  his  extreme  delight  in  the  massing  of 
enormous  groups  of  musical  instruments  of  one  kind,  the  latter 
composition  requiring  14  kettledrums  and  four  brass  bands, 
as  well  as  an  augmented  orchestra,  an  organ,  and  an  enlarged 
chorus,  all  being  used  not  so  much  for  the  sake  of  tone-volume 
as  for  that  of  tone-color.  His  autobiography  is  very  inter- 
esting as  a  revelation  of  the  man. 


The  Development  of  Romanticism  259 

In  his  works  he  shows  an  absorption  of  the  ultra-romanti- 
cism of  his  time  as  regards  musical  form,  looking  upon  it  as 
but  the  garment,  the  conventional  covering,  and  not  the 
individual,  and  insisting  that  the  musical  content  of  a  work 
should  be  its  architect,  the  designer  of  its  form. 

His  compositions,  being  written  in  a  pictorial  style,  follow- 
ing a  more  or  less  definite  series  of  events,  were  the  first  to  re- 
ceive the  title  of  "program  music,"  and  as  such  form  a  portion 
of  the  repertoire  of  every  symphony  orchestra.  His  musical 
influence  is  most  noticeable  in  Wagner  and  Liszt,  who  incor- 
porated his  broad,  grandiose  style  in  their  orchestral  works. 

The  transition  from  the  classical  piano  virtuosi  to  those  of 
the  romantic  school  was  so  gradual  that  there  was  apparently 
no  break  in  the  line  of  their  succession,  the  smaller  piano  pieces 
of  Schumann,  the  sonatas  of  Beethoven,  and  the  larger  piano- 
forte works  of  Weber,  being  in  a  measure  preparatory  to  the 
advent  of  the  great  geniuses  of  the  piano-style,  Thalberg, 
Chopin  and  Liszt,  and  to  their  contributions  to  its  literature. 

The  revelation  of  the  individual  tonal  possibilities  of 
orchestral  instruments  made  by  Berlioz,  led  each  of  these 
three  virtuosi  to  investigate  and  study  for  himself  the  tonal 
possibilities  of  the  piano,  and  to  strive  for  the  invention  of 
new  effects  upon  that  instrument,  rivaling  those  of  Paganini 
on  the  violin. 

It  is  difficult  to  determine  which  of  these  three,  each  igno- 
rant of  the  other's  efforts,  first  discovered  and  applied  a  new 
piano  technique,  which  demanded  more  flexible  use  of  the 
fingers,  hand  and  arm,  and  which  began  to  take  into  serious 
consideration  the  pedal,  sometimes  called  the  "soul  of  the 
piano."  Although  Liszt  in  his  piano  arrangement  of  Berlioz' 
"Harold"  Symphony  makes  demands  upon  the  hands  deemed 
impossible  in  the  old  technique,  the  honor  of  first  developing 
a  style  that  was  distinctly  original  and  easily  recognizable  by 
the  average  listener  as  different  from  those  which  preceded  it, 
belongs  to  Sigismund  Thalberg  (1812-1871). 


26o  Familiar  Talks  on  the  History  of  Music 

His  first  composition  in  this  new  style  was  a  ''Fantasie"  on 
themes  from  Weber's  opera  Euryanthe,  and  revealed  his  power 
as  a  virtuoso  of  a  new  order.  All  his  piano  works  are  based 
upon  his  recognition  of  the  tone-sustaining  possibilities  of  the 
piano,  his  knowledge  of  the  voice  leading  him  to  transfer  a 
beautiful  cantabile  vocal  style  to  that  instrument.  His  series 
of  studies  for  the  purpose  of  acquiring  this  cantabile  are  there- 
fore called  "I'Art  du  Chant  sur  le  Piano."  As  a  pianist  he 
was  conspicuous  for  a  wonderful  technique  characterized  by 
fluency,  lightness  and  clearness  of  scales,  sonorous  chord- 
passages,  and  a  predilection  for  carrying  a  melody  in  the 
middle  of  the  keyboard  while  lightly  investing  it  with  arpeggios 
and  scales  which  formed  a  sort  of  ethereal  atmosphere.  At 
one  time  he  was  a  serious  rival  af  Liszt,  and  had  many  followers 
largely  because  of  his  greater  repose  in  playing.  His  compo- 
sitions belong  to  a  style  of  "salon  music"  which  aims  solely  at 
creating  pleasing  diversion  and  entertainment. 

Far  greater  were  the  contributions,  not  only  to  modern 
pianism  but  to  musical  literature,  made  by  Frederic  Chopin 
(1810-1849),  the  first  great  romantic  poet  of  the  piano.  Born 
in  Poland  of  good  family,  his  youth  was  overshadowed  by 
the  popular  grief  over  his  country's  loss  of  individual  exis- 
tence, a  tragedy  which  made  a  great  impression  upon  his  sen- 
sitive nature.  Although  his  life  was  almost  parallel  with  that 
of  Mendelssohn,  and  although  they  were  both  equally  influ- 
enced by  a  musical  and  literary  environment,  the  efi"ect  was 
wholly  different.  Moved  by  a  national  spirit  which  now 
brooded  in  melancholy  over  his  country's  sorrows  and  now 
rose  in  fiery  revolt  against  existing  political  conditions,  his 
genius  expressed  itself  in  a  new  strain  of  romanticism.  His 
Op.  2,  a  set  of  variations  on  Mozart's  melody  "La  ci  darem  la 
mano,"  earned  for  him  Schumann's  inimitable  criticism  and 
commendation,  beginning  with  the  words,  "Hats  off,  gentle- 
men! A  genius!"  While  his  thematic  invention,  considered 
from  the  academic  standpoint,  was  perhaps  limited,  in  the 


The  Development  of  Romanticism  .      261 

freer  forms  it  was  abundant  and  stands  revealed  in  charac- 
teristic rhythms  and  new  harmonic  combinations  that  are 
fascinating.  His  Ballades  are  dramatic  poems;  his  Noc- 
turnes express  the  Byronic  sentiment  then  abroad  in  the  land; 
his  Mazurkas  and  Polonaises  are  expressions  of  turbulent 
waves  of  patriotism.  His  pianistic  style  is  nowhere  more 
distinctive  than  in  his  Studies  and  Preludes,  which,  though 
frankly  technical,  are  also  fine  examples  of  lyric  and  dramatic 
poetry  and  sound  like  improvisations.  His  variety  of  expres- 
sion in  the  same  form  is  apparently  inexhaustible;  his  piano 
compositions  in  the  smaller  forms  did  as  much  for  the  advance- 
ment of  pianistic  art  as  did  those  of  Liszt,  while  his  influence 
on  living  composers,  especially  in  Russia,  is  still  felt.  All  his 
efforts  were  of  immeasurable  benefit  to  the  development  of 
Romanticism,  because  they  popularized  the  revelation  of  senti- 
ment upon  the  instrument  most  accessible  to  the  public,  the 
piano,  by  their  skillful  employment  of  its  varied  possibilities. 

A  few  words  regarding  the  evolution  of  "salon  music"  are 
necessary  here.  The  desire  to  excel  in  some  direction  is  fdt 
by  every  normally  constituted  human  being.  Because  of  this 
desire,  and  possibly  also  because  of  the  consequent  distinction, 
renown  and  financial  rewards  to  be  attained,  many  pianists, 
encouraged  by  the  success  of  the  smaller  works  of  the  roman- 
ticists, devoted  themselves  to  the  exploitation  of  their  own 
compositions,  which,  though  romantic  in  form,  lacked  the 
genius  of  their  predecessors.  Many  of  these  efforts,  however, 
gave  a  certain  impetus  to  the  progress  of  musical  art;  being 
written  more  for  the  purpose  of  drawing-room  entertainment 
than  for  the  serious  concert  platform,  they  received  the  title 
of  "salon  music." 

A  number  of  other  pianists  flourished  during  the  first  half 
of  the  nineteenth  century,  distinguished  not  so  much  for 
musicianship  as  for  technical  brilliancy,  for  which  the  general 
public,  then  as  now,  seemed  to  have  an  insatiable  appetite. 
Among  these  champions  of  the  bravura  style  may  be  mentioned 


262  Familiar  Talks  on  the  History  of  Music 

Henri  Herz,  Ernst  Haberbier,  Ignaz  Joseph  Pleyel,  Alexander 
Dreyschock  and  Joseph  Wieniawski,  all  of  whom  wrote  a  great 
deal  of  "salon  music"  in  the  lighter  style.  They  also  aided 
in  popularizing  the  piano  and  in  creating  a  general  desire  for 
a  more  or  less  superficial  study  of  this  instrument  on  the  part 
of  the  multitude,  thereby  helping  the  cause  of  musical  educa- 
tion in  general. 

Among  the  pupils,  admirers  and  followers  of  Mendelssohn 
who  nevertheless  made  paths  of  their  own  and  formed  the 
Leipzig  circle,  must  be  mentioned  Ferdinand  Hiller,  Sterndale 
Bennett,  Niels  W.  Gade,  Carl  Reinecke  and  Salomon  Jadas- 
sohn. 

Ferdinand  Hiller  (1811-1885),  an  excellent  pianist  and  versa- 
tile composer,  a  pupil  of  Hummel,  was  not  only  very  successful 
as  an  interpreter  of  Bach  and  Beethoven  in  Paris,  but  also  as 
conductor  of  the  Gewandhaus  concerts  at  Leipzig,  where  he 
was  closely  associated  with  Mendelssohn.  In  1850  he  founded 
the  conservatory  of  Cologne  and  for  many  years  made  his 
influence  felt  as  composer,  teacher  and  musical  essayist. 

Among  the  many  English  composers  who  acknowledged 
Mendelssohn  as  their  leader,  we  single  out  Sir  William  Stern- 
dale  Bennett  (1816-1875),  who  at  the  age  of  17  had  already 
achieved  considerable  distinction  as  pianist  and  composer. 
Through  the  assistance  of  a  London  piano  manufacturing 
firm,  he  was  able  to  spend  several  years  in  Leipzig,  associating 
there  with  Schumann  and  Mendelssohn,  and  later,  upon  his 
return  to  London,  was  active  in  founding  the  Bach  Society 
and  as  the  head  of  the  Royal  Academy  of  Music. 

Niels  Wilhelm  Gade  (1817-1890),  born  at  Copenhagen,  early 
made  his  mark  as  a  virile  composer.  At  first  he  followed  in 
the  footsteps  of  Mendelssohn,  but  later  his  strong  romantic 
spirit  required  the  freer  forms,  and  followed  the  style  of 
Schumann. 

The  influence  of  Carl  Reinecke  (1824-1910),  who  adhered 
to  the  forms  of  expression  of  the  early  romanticists  in  spite 


The  Development  of  Romanticism  263 

of  the  ultra-romantic  turmoil  through  which  he  lived,  has 
been  and  is  still  far-reaching.  A  classical  pianist,  noted  as 
an  exponent  of  Mozart's  style,  a  versatile  conductor  and  a 
composer  of  mildly  romantic  type,  he  was  for  many  years  an 
interesting  figure  in  conservative  Leipzig. 

Salomon  Jadassohn  (1831-1902),  a  Leipzig  student  and 
later  a  pupil  of  Liszt,  an  attractive  composer  in  the  classic 
forms,  exhibiting  superb  contrapuntal  skill,  is  best  known 
as  a  teacher  of  composition  and  instrumentation,  and  his 
text-books  for  these  branches  of  study  are  in  world-wide 
use. 

The  giant  of  pianistic  virtuosity  was  the  Hungarian  Franz 
Liszt  (1811-1886),  who  developed  the  piano  technique  and 
style  of  to-day  on  the  foundations  laid  by  Schumann  and 
Chopin.  Instructed  by  Czerny  and  Salieri  (one  of  Beetho- 
ven's teachers),  he  achieved  distinction  in  early  youth.  At 
the  age  of  14  he  had  such  brilliant  success  in  concerts  at 
Vienna,  that  Beethoven  publicly  embraced  and  kissed  him 
in  delight  over  the  boy's  musical  gifts.  Soon  afterwards  he 
went  to  Paris;  being  refused  admission  at  the  Conservatory 
by  Cherubini  on  account  of  his  foreign  birth,  he  studied  with 
the  best  private  teachers,  and  soon  gratified  his  youthful 
ambitions  by  the  successful  production  of  an  operetta.  He 
then  decided  on  a  pianistic  career  as  teacher  and  concert 
artist.  Friends  among  the  Hungarian  nobility  secured  him 
entrance  to  the  foremost  literary  and  musical  society  of  Paris, 
which  included  Victor  Hugo,  Lamartine,  Berlioz,  Chopin  and 
Paganini.  This  aroused  within  him  the  desire  to  emulate 
the  beauties  of  literary  style  in  the  realm  of  tone-poetry.  In 
addition  to  this,  fascinated  by  the  tremendous  success  of 
the  "wizard  of  the  violin"  in  the  invention  of  novel  tonal 
efi"ects  and  in  brilliant  technique,  he  determined  to  become 
an  equally  able  master  upon  his  own  instrument,  his  etlorts 
resulting  in  what  is  called  the  transcendental  school  of  piano- 
playing. 


264  Familiar  Talks  on  the  History  of  Music 

His  unusually  tall  stature,  accentuated  by  clerical  dress, 
his  long  arms  ending  in  large  hands  for  which  technical  difficul- 
ties had  apparently  ceased  to  exist,  his  strong  face  with  its 
piercing  eyes,  all  combined  to  make  him  a  remarkable  figure 
wherever  he  appeared  during  his  long  concert  career.  He 
used  his  virtuosity  for  the  production  of  pianistic  effects 
never  before  achieved.  His  "arrangements"  or  "transcrip- 
tions" of  various  works  originally  written  for  voice,  organ  or 
orchestra,  excelled  all  their  predecessors  in  that  class  because 
of  their  retention  of  the  original  tone-color. 

While  many  of  Chopin's  works  have  either  a  conscious  or 
an  unconscious  "program,"  Liszt,  Hke  Berlioz,  deliberately 
furnished  for  many  of  his  works  either  definite  suggestions  or 
an  actual  Hterary  "motto"  to  serve  as  a  guide  to  the  listeners' 
imagination.  In  these  he  displayed  a  creative  originality 
that  at  least  equals  that  of  many  contemporary  composers 
of  the  classical  style  and  which  had  the  added  piquancy  of 
novelty  of  form  as  well  as  of  content. 

His  orchestral  compositions  in  the  larger  forms,  to  which 
he  gave  the  title  of  "symphonic  poems,"  aroused  a  storm  of 
protest  from  the  purists,  who  considered  the  structural  liber- 
ties thus  taken  as  deliberate  insults  to  the  geniuses  of  the 
classic  style.  The  "symphonic  poem,"  however,  was  necessary 
for  the  expression  of  his  virile  romanticism,  which,  hke  that 
of  Berlioz,  rebelled  against  the  formal  limitations  of  the  past 
centuries  as  inadequate  to  its  needs.  His  apparent  structural 
lawlessness,  which  so  offended  many  admirers  of  his  pianistic 
gifts,  was  after  all  but  a  natural  outgrowth  of  the  broadly 
developed  romantic  spirit  which  brooked  no  interference  with 
its  fullest  artistic  expression. 

His  influence  on  piano-playing  and  on  music  in  general  is 
difficult  to  define,  because  of  its  breadth  and  variety.  While 
he  was  not  a  great  creative  genius,  except  in  the  smaller  forms, 
he  possessed  unusual  powers  as  a  musical  decorative  artist 
who  knew  how  to  depict  the  heights  of  grandeur  and  the 


The  Development  of  Romanticism  265 

intimacy  of  graceful  sentiment,  thus  preparing  the  way  for 
many  other  composers. 

It  is  difficult  to  conceive  what  the  life  of  Wagner  would 
have  been  without  the  championship  and  the  valuable  as- 
sistance of  Liszt  and  his  immediate  coterie  of  admiring 
followers. 


CHAPTER   XIX. 

THE  ADVENT  OF  THE  MUSIC-DRAMA  AND  THE  RISE  OF 
NATIONALISM. 

The  latter  half  of  the  nineteenth  century  is  conspicuous 
in  the  history  of  musical  art  by  the  rise  and  exploitation  of 
nationalism,  and  the  efforts  of  the  greatest  musical  revolution- 
ary of  all  times,  Richard  Wagner. 

A  brief  consideration  of  the  status  of  operatic  art  and  the 
conditions  existing  in  the  first  part  of  the  nineteenth  century 
is  necessary  for  a  proper  understanding  of  what  is  to  follow. 

In  Italy  Rossini  had  ceased  operatic  writing  in  1830,  but 
Donizetti  was  still  in  the  field.  Mercadante  had  produced 
his  masterwork,  //  Giuramenlo,  in  1837,  although  he  did  not 
die  until  1870.  The  works  of  Donizetti  and  Bellini  were  at 
the  height  of  their  popularity.  The  one  great  Italian  oper- 
atic composer  of  the  time  was  Giuseppe  Verdi  (1813-1901),  of 
whom  we  have  already  spoken.  He,  however,  had  not  then 
arrived  at  mature  musicianship,  and  therefore,  in  company 
with  many  other  operatic  writers  of  his  country,  aimed  only 
to  please  the  public,  which  demanded  the  old  familiar  style 
of  opera,  full  of  delicious  music,  semi-serious  or  humoristic  as 
might  be,  and  with  exquisite  theatrical  thrills  but  little  real 
dramatic  treatment.  The  love  of  beauty  of  tone  and  of 
virtuosity  in  singing  was  still  dominant  in  the  opera-going 
public,  and  composers,  desiring  success,  bowed  to  the  general 
demand.  The  Italians,  proud  of  their  glorious  record  of 
previous  accomplishments  in  musical  art,  had  but  little 
knowledge  of,  and  consequently  little  respect  for,  what  had 
been  done  in  other  countries.  While  the  lighter  form  of 
piano  literature,  as  expressed  in  "salon  music,"  was  in  great 

266 


Advent  of  the  Music-Drama;  Rise  of  Nationalism     267 

demand,  chamber  and  orchestral  music  languished  among 
them  for  lack  of  appreciation.  Except  in  isolated  instances, 
even  church  music  was  appreciated  only  when  written  in  the 
prevalent  operatic  style,  the  polyphony  of  Palestrina  and  his 
successors  having  apparently  lost  its  charm  for  the  people. 
Italian  political  conditions,  following  the  general  demand  for 
release  from  Austrian  control  and  for  national  unity,  no 
doubt  helped  to  create  a  desire  for  relaxation  in  the  pleas- 
ures afforded  by  the  prevalent  operatic  style  with  its  mod- 
erate demands  upon  intellectual  exertion.  Verdi  not  only 
surpassed  all  his  predecessors  in  his  gift  of  charming  melody 
and  in  dramatic  enthusiasm,  but,  being  also  an  earnest 
student  of  his  art,  appreciated  the  best  in  the  works  of  his 
contemporaries  in  other  lands,  and  kept  his  mind  continually 
open  to  musical  suggestions.  This  is  proved  especially  in 
his  later  works,  in  which  his  treatment  of  the  orchestra  as  a 
complex  dramatic  voice  compares  favorably  with  that  of  any 
other  composer. 

In  France,  where  the  composers  of  grand  opera  after 
Rameau  had  all  been  foreigners,  the  general  national  spirit 
and  operatic  taste  found  its  gratification  in  the  opera  comique 
(comedy-opera),  which,  especially  in  its  refinement,  was  a 
decided  improvement  over  its  Italian  parent,  the  opera 
houjfe  {opera  buff  a). 

This  comedy-opera  was  at  first  full  of  Gallic  wit  and  gayety 
combined  with  brilliant  flashes  of  poetic  imagination.  The 
light  operatic  farces  of  Offenbach  and  Lecocq,  though  at 
first  received  with  great  acclaim,  were  later  found  to  appeal 
to  a  class  of  people  wholly  different  from  those  who  had 
been  the  devotees  of  opera  comique.  As  a  result  the  latter 
took  a  more  romantic  turn,  and  it  has  retained  this  char- 
acteristic to  the  present  day. 

Many  composers  contributed  some  of  their  best  efforts  to 
the  gratification  of  the  national  operatic  taste,  among  whom 
we  have  already  mentioned    Boieldieu,  Auber,  and  Adam. 


268  Familiar  Talks  on  the  History  of  Music 

Even  Meyerbeer  contributed  his  Etoile  du  Nord  and  Dinorah 
to  the  prevailing  demand,  and  thus  helped  materially  in  the 
artistic  progress  and  development  of  opera  comique.  Among 
others  whose  works  were  then  very  popular  we  may  mention 
Fromental  Halevy  (1799- 1862),  whose  grand  opera  La 
Juive  was  appreciated  as  much  as  his  lighter  V Eclair.  In 
these  and  many  of  his  other  works  he  gives  evidence  of  a 
decided  vein  of  poetry  and  real  musical  and  dramatic  gifts, 
although  occasionally  he  loses  his  individuality  by  imitating 
the  theatrical  methods  of  Meyerbeer.  Another  shining  light 
among  French  operatic  composers  of  the  time  was  Am- 
broise  Thomas  (1811-1896),  whose  Mignon,  Hamlet  and 
Francoise  de  Rimini,  written  during  the  second  half  of  the 
nineteenth  century,  still  adorn  the  French  stage.  Victor 
Masse  with  his  charming  Les  Noces  de  Jeanneite,  and  Flotow, 
with  his  Viennese  success,  Martha,  were  also  conspicuous 
figures  in  the  field  of  French  opera. 

Opera  in  Russia  was  in  its  infancy,  but  in  Austria  it  was  in 
a  comparatively  flourishing  condition.  Vienna,  its  musical 
center,  still  revelled  in  the  prevailing  styles  of  Italy  and 
France,  with  but  an  occasional  hearing  of  German  romantic 
opera  as  represented  by  Weber  and  Marschner.  In  Germany 
the  jealousy  existing  between  the  many  small  principalities 
prevented  the  rise  of  any  musical  figure  of  national  impor- 
tance. Various  artistic  circles  which  included  the  best  mu- 
sicians of  neighboring  states  exerted  individual  efforts  for  the 
realization  and  adoption  of  their  musical  and  operatic  ideals. 

These  circles  had  their  centers  in  various  places,  extend- 
ing even  into  Scandinavia,  Poland  and  Russia,  but  the  most 
conspicuous  and  active  were  those  of  Leipzig,  Berlin,  Weimar 
and  Dresden. 

While  Italian  opera  was  still  in  great  popular  demand, 
these  circles  exerted  themselves  in  promoting  romantic  opera 
and  the  Singspiel.  the  national  musical  comedy,  which  en- 
deavored  to  emulate  and  excel  the  French  stvle.     Native 


Advent  of  the  Music-Drama;  Rise  of  Nationalism     269 

composers  of  more  or  less  musical  ability,  most  of  whose 
names  are  now  wellnigh  forgotten,  labored  in  this  field. 
Among  those  who  assisted  in  the  upbuilding  of  romantic 
opera  we  must  mention  Conradin  Kreutzer,  with  his  Nacht- 
lager  von  Granada,  Albert  Lortzing  with  Czar  und  Zimmer- 
mann  and  various  other  excellent  works,  Franz  Lachner, 
the  symphonist,  with  Benvenuto  Cellini,  and  Nicolai  with  the 
Merry  Wives  of  Windsor. 

The  operatic  efforts  of  Gluck  in  the  direction  of  dramatic 
sincerity,  during  the  latter  part  of  the  eighteenth  century, 
had  borne  an  excellent,  though  not  abundant,  harvest  in  the 
field  of  tragic  opera,  but  he  was  still  to  a  large  extent  academic 
in  his  dramatic  treatment,  remaining  almost  uninfluenced 
by  the  tide  of  romanticism  then  just  beginning  to  flow. 

Weber's  operatic  subjects  were  characterized  more  by 
picturesqueness  than  grandeur,  and  by  a  light  romantic 
touch  rather  than  profound  imagination.  Most  of  the  works 
of  other  contemporary  German  operatic  composers  were  in  a 
measure  modeled  after  the  Italian  form  of  what  might  be 
called  concert-opera,  a  succession  of  beautiful  musical  num- 
bers having  slight  dramatic  or  musical  connection. 

The  time  was  therefore  ripe  for  the  arrival  of  an  operatic 
Joshua  who  would  heroically  lead  his  forces,  were  they  many 
or  few,  against  the  mighty  hosts  of  tradition  and  custom, 
and  against  the  laissez-faire  sentiment  of  the  mentally  and 
musically  indolent. 

Such  a  mighty  leader  was  found  in  the  person  of  Richard 
Wagner,  concerning  whose  works,  theories,  aims  and  wide- 
spread influence  volumes  have  been  written  and  are  still 
being  written,  though  his  autobiography  and  collected  let- 
ters give  us  a  fairly  clear  insight  into  the  man  and  his  ideals. 
A  few  biographical  data  must  suffice  here. 

He  was  born  at  Leipzig  on  May  22.  1813.  the  ninth  and 
youngest  child  in  a  family  whose  father  held  a  small  civil 
office,  and  who  died  a  few  years  after  Richard's  birth.     His 


270  Familiar  Talks  on  the  History  of  Music 

mother's  subsequent  marriage  with  Ludwig  Geyer  brought 
the  boy  under  the  powerful  influence  of  a  man  of  wide  cul- 
tivation and  excellent  abilities  as  an  actor,  playwright  and 
portrait-painter,  whose  home  was  in  Dresden.  While  at 
school  in  that  city,  Richard  was  an  ardent  student  of  German 
poetry  and  the  tragic  drama.  After  the  death  of  his  step- 
father, who  desired  the  boy  to  become  a  painter  in  spite  of 
his  apparent  lack  of  talent  for  drawing,  his  mother  informed 
him  of  her  last  conversation  with  Geyer,  who  had  finally  ex- 
pressed his  belief  that  the  boy  might,  after  all,  have  a  gift  for 
music.  In  1827  the  family  moved  back  to  Leipzig,  where 
Richard  attended  the  gymnasium  and  later  the  University, 
delving  much  in  mediaeval  lore  and  becoming  deeply  inter- 
ested in  the  orchestral  works  of  Beethoven.  With  the  ex- 
ception of  a  dramatic  libretto  which  was  a  mixture  of  Hamlet 
and  King  Lear,  all  his  youthful  endeavors  were  in  the  direc- 
tion of  instrumental  music;  a  sonata,  a  polonaise  and  a 
symphony  in  classical  style  all  being  written  before  he  was 
16.  Of  the  first  performance  of  this  symphony  he  says  some 
delicious  things  in  his  autobiography.  At  the  theater  he  was 
much  impressed  with  Beethoven's  music  to  Egmont,  and  de- 
termined to  write  similar  dramatic  music  for  his  own  tragedy. 
In  his  eighteenth  year  he  had  an  intimate  acquaintance  with 
Beethoven's  works,  "having  copied  the  scores,  slept  with 
the  quartets,  and  even  whistled  the  concertos." 

From  early  manhood  his  leaning  toward  the  drama,  com- 
bined with  physical  circumstances,  seem  to  have  united  in 
preparation  for  his  great  operatic  career,  for  at  the  age  of 
20  he  became  chorus-director  at  the  opera-house  in  Wiirz- 
burg,  where  his  elder  brother  was  stage-manager;  there  he 
wrote  his  first  opera,  Die  Feen,  an  outburst  of  youthful, 
romantic  bombast.  There  followed  a  number  of  brief  en- 
gagements in  various  cities,  as  conductor  of  persistently 
unsuccessful  theatrical  companies,  and  consequent  periods  of 
professional  idleness,  during  one  of  which  he  wrote  the  opera 


Advent  of  the  Music-Drama;  Rise  of  Nalionalism     271 

Das  Liebesverbot.  In  1836  he  married  the  actress  Wilhelmine 
Planer,  and  in  the  following  year  obtained  the  more  lucra- 
tive opera  directorship  at  Riga.  After  two  years'  stay,  dur- 
ing which  he  worked  upon  his  Rienzi,  he  decided  to  go  to 
Paris,  whose  serious  style  of  historic  opera  appealed  to  him. 
On  his  way  by  sea  to  Boulogne  his  vessel  encountered  violent 
storms,  and  as  a  result  the  legend  of  the  Flying  Dutchman, 
incorporated  by  him  into  a  dramatic  libretto,  clamored 
within  him  for  musical  expression.  At  Boulogne  he  met 
Meyerbeer,  who  gave  him  letters  of  introduction  to  the 
manager  of  the  Grand  Opera  in  Paris,  which,  however,  failed 
to  secure  him  a  musical  hearing.  During  his  stay  in  the 
French  capital  he  managed  to  eke  out  a  precarious  Hvingby 
all  kinds  of  clerical  hackwork,  arrangements  of  popular 
melodies  for  various  instruments  with  piano  accompaniment, 
and  some  newspaper  essay-writing,  which  afforded  him  op- 
portunity to  formulate  and  publish  his  own  musical  ideas 
and  theories  in  a  manner  that  attracted  considerable  atten- 
tion. Although  he  mingled  a  little  in  musical  and  literary 
society,  thus  meeting  Berlioz,  his  restless  mind  and  active 
genius  were  constantly  occupied  with  Rienzi,  and  with  the 
serious  study  of  German  mediaeval  legends.  Driven  to  des- 
peration by  poverty  and  the  apparent  impossibility  of  secur- 
ing a  hearing,  he  finally  sold  his  Hbretto  of  Dcr  jliegcnde 
Hollander  to  the  French  Opera,  which  produced  it  two  years 
later  with  a  musical  setting  by  Dietsch.  As  soon  as  his 
Rienzi  was  finished  it  was  sent  to  Dresden,  where  it  was 
produced  with  such  brilliant  success,  in  1842,  that  it  secured 
him  a  court  appointment.  The  next  year  Der  fUegcndc  Hol- 
lander was  produced  successfully  in  Berlin,  making  a  deep 
impression  because  of  its  seriousness,  but  not  achieving  popu- 
larity because  it  was  generally  deemed  too  gloomy  in  char- 
acter and  not  brilliant  enough  when  compared  with  the 
kind  of  opera  then  in  vogue.  Nevertheless,  people  listened 
to  this  new  and  strange  voice  in  the  operatic  world,  which 


272  Familiar  Talks  on  the  History  of  Music 

upset  so  many  previous  conceptions  and  usages.  Demands 
for  performances  in  other  cities  followed  and  helped  him 
financially  to  his  feet.  While  in  Dresden  he  was  active  in 
many  directions,  all  tending  toward  the  setting  of  higher 
standards  at  the  opera,  and  at  orchestral  and  choral  con- 
certs, his  interpretation  of  Beethoven's  ninth  symphony 
securing  him  general  artistic  recognition.  This  activity, 
while  gaining  him  some  friends  and  admirers,  also  raised 
against  him  an  army  of  cavillers  and  revilers,  composed  of 
those  whose  musical  equilibrium  he  constantly  disturbed. 
His  impetuosity,  his  unsparing  criticism  of  existing  con- 
ditions, his  ardent  idealism,  his  uncompromising  attitude,  and 
his  unconventional  musical  utterance,  as  exhibited  in  Tann- 
hduser  and  Lohengrin,  all  combined  to  make  him  a  con- 
tinual annoyance  to  those  who  revelled  in  musical  con- 
ventionality and  felt  satisfied  with  things  as  they  were. 

His  friends  among  the  musicians  of  the  day  were  very  few. 
Some,  like  Schumann,  who  evidently  but  partly  understood 
him,  at  first  acknowledged  his  originality,  his  orchestral  tech- 
nique and  instrumentation,  but  later  deplored  his  "lack  of 
knowledge  of  musical  structure  and  his  triviality."  Others, 
like  Spohr,  acknowledged  that  much  in  his  works  was  new 
and  beautiful,  but  contended  that  much  was  disagreeable, 
too,  and  therefore  like  "an  attack  upon  the  ear;"  above  all 
they  complained  of  the  "absence  of  rhythm"  in  his  works, 
and  his  "ignorance  of  musical  periods,"  which  were  "evi- 
dences of  his  lack  of  musicianship,  and  proved  him  to  be  but 
a  talented  amateur."  Still  others  hated  him  because  they 
were  jealous  of  him  and  feared  his  future  influence.  Liszt  at 
Weimar,  with  a  few  conductors,  operatic  singers  and  a  num- 
ber of  personal  followers,  warmly  defended  him  against  the 
assaults  of  even  the  powerful  critics.  His  antagonism  to 
conventionality,  and  his  sympathy  with  revolutionary  ideas 
in  general,  finally  involved  him  in  the  political  disturbances 
of  the  day.     In  order  to  avoid  arrest  he  fled,  in  1849,  to 


Advent  of  the  Music-Drama;  Rise  of  Nationalism     27^ 

Switzerland,  where  he  labored  for  several  years  on  his  great- 
est works. 

In  the  meantime  Tannhduser  and  Lohengrin  slowly  made 
their  way  into  the  hearts  of  the  people,  in  spite  of  severe  and 
general  abuse  on  the  part  of  the  critics.  Tannhduser  was 
termed  "odd  stuff,"  even  by  some  who  admired  his  genius; 
the  great  narrative  in  the  third  act  of  that  opera  was  called 
"empty"  and  "pointless,"  and  Wagner  was  strenuously 
urged  to  change  the  plot  so  that  the  story  would  end  in  a 
happy  marriage  between  the  hero  and  Elizabeth.  In  spite 
of  all  sorts  of  friendly  and  unfriendly  pressure,  intended  to 
drive  him  back  to  conventional  ideas,  he  would  not  yield  his 
principles,  and  uncompromisingly  remained  steadfast  to  his 
ideal  of  opera  as  a  serious  art-work,  a  music-drama. 

His  life  at  his  quiet  villa  in  Zurich,  Switzerland,  was  very 
sad  and  musically  very  lonely.  His  letters  to  Liszt  are  mostly 
full  of  complaints  of  poverty  and  distress,  and  of  extravagantly 
expressed  thanks  for  the  receipt  of  money  obtained  from 
concerts  at  which  excerpts  of  his  operas  were  given.  If  ever 
man  had  a  good  angel,  Wagner  had  his  in  the  person  of  Liszt, 
whose  untiring  efforts  in  his  behalf  were  responsible  for  that 
rise  and  extension  of  the  Wagner  cult  which  had  such  a  tremen- 
dous influence  in  securing  a  proper  understanding  of  his  ideals. 
We  cannot  refrain  from  quoting  from  a  letter  he  wrote  to  Liszt 
during  his  early  stay  in  Zurich,  while  at  work  on  Siegfried. 
In  this  letter  he  begs  Liszt  to  secure  for  him  in  some  way  "the 
wages  of  a  middling  mechanic."  He  says,  "  I  must  do  genuine 
work,  or  perish.  I  am  fit  only  to  write  operas,  and  should  only 
deceive  people  if  I  accepted  a  position.  My  friends  must  get 
me  some  small  yearly  allowance.  .  .  .  Let  some  one  buy  my 
Lohengrin,  skin  and  bones.  Let  some  one  commission  my 
Siegfried.  I  will  do  it  cheaply,  for  I  must  have  firewood  and 
a  warm  cloak  for  my  wife,  her  old  one  being  too  shabby." 

Although  a  fugitive  from  Dresden,  he  kept  himself  constantly 
in  the  public  mind  by  his  literary  work,  by  means  o'"  essays 


274  Familiar  Talks  on  tne  History  of  Music 

and  books,  among  which  ''Judaism  in  Music,"  and  "Opera 
and  Drama,"  created  a  great  deal  of  discussion,  the  latter  also 
making  considerable  propaganda  for  a  better  understanding 
of  his  operatic  intentions. 

His  life  during  his  stay  in  Switzerland  was  an  endless 
succession  of  periods  of  suffering  through  poverty,  and  a 
similar  succession  of  periods  of  the  highest  creative  exaltation. 
The  first  was  alleviated  now  and  then  by  the  financial  assist- 
ance that  came  through  Liszt's  efforts,  and  the  other  by  the 
joy  of  writing,  and  the  occasional  news  of  successful  perform- 
ances of  his  works.  The  great  trilogy  Der  Ring  des  Nibe- 
lungen  (consisting  of  the  introductory  Das  Rheingold,  Die 
Walkure,  Siegfried,  and  GdUerddmmerung) ,  and  Tristan  und 
Isolde,  were  conceived  and  almost  entirely  written  during  his 
absence  from  his  native  land. 

His  reputation  as  a  conductor  and  able  musician  of  ad- 
vanced ideas,  however,  was  gradually  extending  during  this 
time  and  caused  his  being  called  to  London  in  1855  to  conduct 
a  series  of  Philharmonic  Concerts.  Because  of  his  success, 
he  yielded  to  the  temptation  of  giving  concerts  in  Paris  and 
Brussels,  which  proved  a  financial  failure.  In  1861  his  politi- 
cal banishment  was  revoked  and  he  was  at  once  invited  to 
Vienna  to  superintend  the  rehearsals  of  Lohengrin,  which  he 
had  never  heard. 

Several  concert-tours  as  "visiting  conductor,"  which  took 
him  to  the  most  important  continental  cities,  followed,  at  all 
of  which  he  had  great  success;  however,  this  did  not  eliminate 
his  financial  difficulties,  and  therefore  did  not  enable  him  to 
finish  the  operas  under  way.  But  all  such  troubles  came  to 
an  end  in  1864,  when  he  was  called  to  Munich,  by  Ludvvig  H 
of  Bavaria,  with  the  promise  of  the  financial  support  necessary 
for  carrying  out  his  operatic  projects.  The  artist,  who  had 
been  so  unwaveringly  faithful  to  his  ideals,  there  at  last 
received  his  triumphal  reward.  Most  of  the  critics  who  had 
derided  him  for  many  years,  in  season  and  out  of  season,  now 


Advent  of  the  Music-Drama;  Rise  of  Nationalism     275 

began  to  realize  his  lofty  seriousness  of  purpose  in  erecting 
a  new  style  of  opera  upon  the  foundations  of  the  Greek  drama 
and  the  ideals  of  Monteverde.  They  now  began  to  acknowl- 
edge that  his  artistic  nature  had  justly  revolted  against  the 
prevalent  Italian  operatic  practices,  in  plot  and  action  as  well 
as  music,  and  had  selected  the  moral  symbolism  of  the  vague 
myth  as  the  ideal  for  his  inspiration  because  it  would  also 
enable  him  to  use  the  complex,  suggestive  voice  of  the  orchestra 
for  the  creation  of  the  proper  musical  and  dramatic  atmosphere 
in  which  his  characters  were  to  move  and  have  their  being. 

Every  method  of  musical  utterance  from  the  polyphony  of 
Bach  to  the  grandiose  style  of  Berlioz,  though  expressed  in 
modern  orchestral  terms,  was  used  by  him  with  consummate 
skill  for  the  expression  of  his  limitless  fancy,  and  his  apparently 
most  daring  harmonic  and  vocal  innovations  are  but  extensions 
of  previous  practices,  made  necessary  by  his  demands.  As 
he  regarded  the  singers,  both  principals  and  chorus,  simply  as 
elements  requisite  to  the  development  of  his  complete  dra- 
matic ideal,  their  prominence  became  decidedly  limited,  and 
the  conventional  operatic  aria,  with  a  subordinate  orchestral 
accompaniment,  is  therefore  wholly  absent  from  his  works. 

Wagner's  style  has  affected  all,  those  who  have  come  after 
him,  both  in  the  operatic  and  the  orchestral  world,  with  one 
notable  exception,  that  of  Johannes  Brahms  (1833-1897), 
whose  powerful  artistic  personality  and  strict  adherence  to  the 
classical  forms  presented  a  veritable  bulwark  for  the  conserva- 
tives, against  which  the  most  violent  assaults  of  the  ultra- 
moderns  have  been  made  in  vain.  Schumann's  extravagantly 
complimentary  opinion  of  his  first  compositions  as  those  of  a 
''modern  musical  Messiah,"  proved  at  first  a  rather  serious 
handicap.  His  works  are  rich  in  their  content  and  difficult 
of  performance,  but  because  of  their  limited  adaptability  for 
display  are  not  heard  as  often  as  they  deserve.  In  the  midst 
of  the  rushing  romantic,  operatic,  and  orchestral  waves  which 
surrounded  him,  he  refused  to  consider  the  clamor  for  either 


276  Familiar  Talks  on  the  History  of  Music 

dramatic  expression  or  sensuous  beauty.  Nevertheless,  he 
had  great  creative  gifts  and  a  deep  imagination,  and  his  close 
alliance  to  Bach  and  Beethoven,  but  lightly  touched  by  exter- 
nal influences,  made  him  a  unique  figure  in  the  world  of  art. 

The  death  of  Wagner  in  Venice  in  1883,  laden  with  honors 
and  with  the  satisfaction  of  a  great  work  accomplished,  created 
an  artistic  void  difficult  to  fill.  His  mighty  genius  at  first 
dwarfed  the  eff"orts  of  all  composers  with  operatic  tendencies 
to  such  a  degree  that  an  outlet  was  necessary  in  a  difTerent 
direction,  and  it  came  in  the  expression  of  ''nationalism." 

This  in  itself  was  of  course  not  a  new  thing,  and  had  always 
existed  to  a  degree  in  folk-songs.  Several  causes,  however, 
contributed  during  the  last  50  years  to  the  development  of 
distinctly  national  musical  characteristics.  Some  of  these  are 
political;  others  result  from  the  exploitation  of  national  pride 
in  certain  racial  or  local  traits  of  musical  utterance,  in  rhythm, 
peculiar  scale-formation,  or  style. 

French  music,  for  instance,  is  distinguished  in  general  more 
by  its  style,  which  is  graceful  and  elegant  in  both  melody  and 
harmony,  and  brilliant  in  effect,  than  for  peculiar  rhythm  or 
tonal  successions,  but  it  is  nevertheless  expressive  of  much 
that  is  new  in  musical  structure,  in  all  its  departments. 
Among  its  modern  exponents  of  the  art  we  need  but  mention 
Saint-Saens,  Guilmant,  and  Widor,  the  organists,  Massenet, 
Chabrier,  Godard,  d'lndy,  Charpentier,  whose  opera  Louise 
is  continually  gaining  in  favor,  and  Debussy,  whose  works  are 
at  present  attracting  much  notice  because  of  their  charming 
peculiarities. 

The  Italians  have  for  more  than  three  centuries  used  the 
opera  as  their  favorite  means  of  musical  expression.  They 
were  therefore  very  prompt  in  recognizing  the  lofty  ideals 
of  Wagner,  based  upon  those  of  their  own  Monteverde,  and 
rapidly  assimilated  his  style  without,  however,  abandoning 
their  own  distinctive  national  traits.  This  is  evident  from  the 
later  works  of  Verdi  and  those  of  our  contemporaries  which 


Advent  of  the  Music- Drama;  Rise  of  Nationalism     277 

have  been  previously  mentioned.  In  spite  of  their  love  foi 
expression  in  the  operatic  held,  they  did  not  wholly  forsake 
the  realm  of  orchestral  and  chamber  music,  nor  that  of  the 
concerto  for  a  solo  instrument.  As  evidence  of  this  we  need 
but  mention  Sgambati,  with  symphonies  and  a  piano  con- 
certo, Martucci,  with  one  symphony,  a  piano  concerto  and 
chamber  music,  and  Floridia,  with  a  very  acceptable  sym- 
phony. 

Although  England  produced  no  great  creative  composers 
since  the  days  of  Purcell,  nevertheless  a  number  of  most 
excellent  musicians  who,  however,  show  few  distinct  national 
traits  or  style,  have  endeavored  to  reestablish  the  former 
musical  glory  of  their  country.  Among  these  we  may  men- 
tion Sir  Arthur  Sullivan,  whose  light  operas,  in  his  own  in- 
imitable style,  have  delighted  the  world;  Mackenzie,  Parry, 
Cowen,  Stanford,  Goring  Thomas,  and  Sir  Edward  Elgar. 

That  the  nations  just  mentioned  have  no  very  distinctive 
musical  traits  is  undoubtedly  due  to  the  fact  that  they  have 
for  centuries  practised  and  absorbed  each  other's  best  forms 
of  expression,  and  have  thus  become  almost  equally  cos- 
mopolitan in  their  methods  of  musical  utterance.  This  can- 
not be  said,  however,  of  the  nations  or  peoples  whom  we  will 
next  consider,  and  who,  either  through  musical  isolation, 
religion,  or  racial  inheritance  have  retained  marked  char- 
acteristics. 

While  the  earlier  Scandinavian  composers  were  musically 
the  children  of  Germany,  in  the  last  half  century  they  have 
begun  to  come  into  their  own.  Their  music  is  now  distinctive 
because  of  its  frequent  use  of  the  minor  mode  combined  with 
fantastic  rhythms,  and  a  dreamy  but  serious  emotion  which 
extends  even  to  their  dance-music.  Among  the  composers 
exhibiting  these  national  traits  we  must  mention  Johan  Hart- 
mann,  with  symphonies  and  concertos;  Asger  Hamerik.  also 
with  symphonies  and  other  large  works;  Sinding.  with  a 
symphony  and  many  smaller  works,  especially  for  the  piano; 


278  Familiar  Talks  on  the  History  of  Music 

and  above  all  Edvard  Grieg,  with  a  wealth  of  compositions 
in  almost  every  form. 

The  Bohemians  and  Hungarians  present  a  musical  dialect 
quite  different  from  all  others,  especially  in  its  scale-struc- 
ture and  peculiar  rhythmic  and  dynamic  expression,  and  in 
its  abrupt  changes  of  tempo.  At  times  it  is  quite  barbaric  in 
its  grandiose  splendor,  but  with  an  underlying  poetic  vein 
that  is  easily  recognizable. 

Among  Bohemians  stand  in  the  front  rank  Smetana,  their 
first  great  opera-composer,  and  Dvorak,  with  a  wealth  of  ex- 
tremely fanciful  characteristic  literature  to  his  credit;  after 
these  Naprawnik,  a  fine  pianist  and  conductor,  who  labored 
in  every  field  of  musical  art. 

The  greatest  composer  of  the  Hungarians,  who,  though  at 
times  cosmopolitan,  nevertheless  retained  many  of  his  national 
traits,  was  Franz  Liszt.  His  fame  and  influence  as  composer 
and  pianist,  and  as  the  teacher  of  the  leading  pianists  of 
to-day,  and  also  as  the  foremost  apostle  of  Wagner,  is  un- 
doubtedly the  brightest  jewel  in  the  musical  crown  of  his 
native  land.  A  partial  list  of  contemporary  pianists  will 
prove  how  far-reaching  this  influence  has  been.  Rubinstein 
and  von  Bulow  were  both  powerfully  affected  by  his  dehnea- 
tion  of  the  functions  of  piano-playing.  Tausig,  excelling  even 
his  teacher  in  technique,  Klindworth  of  Berlin,  Raff,  Cornelius, 
von  Bronsart,  are  but  a  few  of  his  pupils  who  achieved  dis- 
tinction and  formed  the  Weimar  circle,  whose  artistic  im- 
pulsion has  been  felt  around  the  world. 

Russia,  with  its  millions  of  inhabitants  of  many  widely 
dissimilar  tendencies,  and  therefore  presenting  distinctive 
traits  in  folk-music,  has  been,  is,  and  will  probably  continue 
to  be  a  veritable  mine  of  varied  national  musical  character- 
istics, which  nevertheless  have  much  in  common.  In  listen- 
ing to  the  works  of  genuinely  Russian  composers,  based 
upon  the  folk-song  and  its  spirit,  we  are  at  once  impressed 
by  their  pecuUar  tj-pe  of  melodic  beauty  which  alternates 


Advent  of  the  Music-Drama;  Rise  of  Nationalism     279 

constantly  between  the  major  and  minor  modes,  expressed  in 
similarly  temperamental  rhythms  and  supported  by  almost 
barbarously  glittering  or  deeply  melancholy  harmonies. 
These  very  contradictions  furnish  distinctive  colors  for  the 
musical  pallette  of  their  tone-painters,  who  have  been  quick 
to  make  use  of  them  in  all  art-forms  from  the  song  to  the 
opera  and  the  symphony.  Their  style,  technically  speaking, 
is  not  yet  fully  established,  owing  largely  to  the  comparative 
youth  of  their  national  musical  expression,  which  began  less 
than  a  hundred  years  ago  and  had  to  force  its  way  through  the 
established  conventionality  of  foreign  composers  who  flour- 
ished among  them.  The  names  of  Tschaikowsky,  who  is 
considered  but  mildly  Russian  by  his  countrymen,  Borodin, 
the  friend  of  Liszt,  Moussorgsky,  a  very  proHfic  writer, 
Rimsky-Korsakoff,  Arensky,  Glazounoff,  Scriabine  and  Rach- 
maninoff, added  to  the  Polish  ones  of  the  Scharwenkas,  Mosz- 
kowski  and  Paderewski  and  that  of  the  Finnish  composer, 
Sibelius,  may  be  found  on  many  programs  throughout  the 
world,  proving  that  Russian  national  music  is  everj-where 
appreciated  and  in  demand. 

In  addition  to  the  expression  of  nationalism  in  musical 
art  there  has  now  arisen  what  might  be  called  the  "personal" 
expression.  This  is  shown  in  the  almost  individual  musical 
dialect  of  some  of  our  most  modern  composers,  enunciated  in 
the  structurally  elastic  forms  with  which  we  have  become 
familiar.  The  emotional  basis  of  their  works  is  usually  found 
in  some  literary  phrase  or  romantic  poem. 

The  foremost  of  present-day  composers  who  present  such 
an  individual  musical  dialect  are  Debussy  and  that  restlessly 
creative  genius,  Richard  Strauss.  Whether  their  methods  of 
expression  will  survive  through  the  coming  years  is  a  ques- 
tion for  the  future  historian. 


CHAPTER   XX. 

CONCLUSION. 

Having  followed,  in  a  general  way,  the  historical  course  of 
the  development  of  the  art  of  music  in  the  Old  World,  we  will 
now  turn  to  our  own  shores,  and  briefly  consider  what  we 
have  thus  far  accomplished.  We  have  seen  that  European 
nations,  in  their  musical  development,  learned  constantly 
from  contact  with  their  near  neighbors,  so  that  for  centuries 
their  musical  status  was  nearly  on  a  par.  We  know  that 
throughout  the  first  fifteen  centuries  of  the  Christian  era  all 
the  arts  were  under  the  protecting  care  of  the  Catholic  Church, 
and  that  music,  which  occupied  such  a  prominent  place  in 
its  services,  was  cultivated  during  that  time  almost  for  that 
sole  purpose.  We  have  noted  the  advent  of  the  Chorale  in 
the  time  of  the  great  Reformation  and  have  spoken  of  its 
transplanting  to  other  countries,  notably  to  England.  The 
struggles  between  the  followers  of  the  Established  Church  of 
England,  which  to  some  seemed  to  savor  of  Catholicism,  and 
the  people  who  believed  in  the  simplicity  of  religious  worship, 
as  well  as  the  history  of  alternate  religious  oppression  and 
revolt,  which  finally  resulted  in  English  emigration  to  our 
shores,  are  familiar  to  all. 

Our  early  English  settlers,  the  Cavaliers  and  the  Puritans, 
belonged  to  two  distinct  classes,  differing  widely  in  their 
ideas.  The  contrast  between  these  two  classes,  resulting 
from  their  difference  in  early  environment  and  education,  is 
visible  even  to-day  in  their  descendants.  The  Cavaliers, 
mostly  members  of  the  established  church  of  England  and 
arriving  here  some  fourteen  years  before  the  Puritans,  largely 
in  search  of  adventure,  were  interested  in  music  merely  as  a 

280 


Conclusion  281 


source  of  entertainment  and  pleasure  and  therefore  played 
and  sang  mostly  the  ballads  of  the  countryside  and  court. 
The  Puritans,  or  Non-Conformists,  who  left  their  homes 
because  of  a  desire  for  religious  freedom  and  came  to  the  New 
England  coast,  belonged  to  that  religious  sect  which  had  de- 
stroyed musical  instruments  and  hymn-books  and  had  driven 
the  musicians  and  choirs  out  of  the  Anglican  churches  be- 
cause they  deemed  the  contrapuntal  music  which  was  in  vogue 
a  frivolous  art.  In  their  antagonism  to  this  kind  of  music 
they  had  reverted  to  melodic  simpHcity  and  singing  in  unison. 
Their  sacred  music,  their  hymnology,  was  very  limited  in 
extent,  because  the  invention  of  new  tunes  was  prohibited, 
and  even  the  versified  Psalms  were  sung  by  them  with  a  vague 
fear  of  their  possible  frivolity.  After  their  arrival  in  America, 
their  hardy  and  hazardous  pioneer  life  afforded  but  little 
opportunity  for  the  cultivation  and  study  of  the  peaceful 
arts.  Furthermore,  they  were  wholly  out  of  contact  with  the 
musical  progress  of  the  world,  except  as  they  learned  of  it 
through  their  imported  clergymen.  As  the  music-books  grew 
gradually  fewer  and  fewer,  so  that  the  hymns  were  passed  on 
orally  from  one  generation  to  another,  some  of  the  church 
tunes  became  so  corrupted  that  often  no  two  people  in  the 
same  church  could  agree  on  the  correct  way  to  sing  them. 
Much  has  been  written  about  the  struggles  for  improvement 
in  church  music,  which  took  place  during  colonial  times, 
between  the  educated  clergy,  who  were  continually  emigrating 
to  this  country,  and  their  pioneer  congregations.  Time  and 
space  forbid  more  than  a  mere  mention  of  the  names  of  some 
leaders  in  this  movement,  but  a  study  of  its  history  will  be 
found  both  profitable  and  interesting.  In  addition  to  their 
pulpit  advocacy  of  musical  betterment  in  the  churches,  some 
of  the  colonial  clergymen  published,  and  scattered  abroad 
among  the  members  of  their  congregations,  pamphlets  ad- 
vising the  removal  of  restrictions  upon  church  singing. 
Among  these  must  especially   be  mentioned  John   Cotton. 


282  Familiar  Talks  on  the  History  of  Music 

whose  calm  and  logical  treatise  (published  in  1647)  was  re- 
sponsible for  the  first  steps  in  musical  improvement,  and 
John  Cleves  Symmes,  whose  arguments  finally  resulted  in 
the  establishment  of  singing-schools  for  children,  and  later 
for  adults.  Instruction-books  for  use  in  these  singing-schools 
soon  followed,  for  in  1712  the  Rev.  John  Tufts  published  a 
book  on  "The  Art  of  Singing  Psalm-Tunes"  which  contained 
28  tunes  and  a  "method"  of  singing.  This  was  followed  by 
others  written  by  James  Lyon,  Francis  Hopkinson,  and  Flagg, 
a  bandmaster  in  Philadelphia.  The  instruction  received  by 
the  children  and  adults  in  the  singing-schools  created  a  desire 
for  further  study  and  practice,  which  in  turn  resulted  in  the 
formation  of  the  volunteer  church  choir  and  the  choral  society. 
The  entrance  of  the  church  choir,  however,  was  not  obtained 
without  long  and  serious  struggles  within  the  churches  which 
often  caused  permanent  divisions  of  congregations.  In  order 
to  appreciate  with  what  giant  strides  we,  in  this  country, 
have  since  moved  in  our  development,  we  should  remember 
that  such  was  the  status  of  music  in  America  during  the  first 
half  of  the  eighteenth  century,  when  Bach  and  Handel  were 
at  the  zenith  of  their  glory. 

The  work  of  the  first  American  composers  was  naturally  in 
the  direction  of  church  music.  Among  the  pioneer  musicians 
who  thus  labored  for  their  art  should  be  mentioned,  first  of 
all,  WilHam  Billings  (i  746-1800),  a  friend  of  Samuel  Adams 
and  Dr.  Pierce  of  Brookline,  Mass.,  both  of  whom  stood  with 
him  in  the  choir.  He  was  a  singing-school  teacher  of  note 
and  a  self-taught  musician,  whose  original  ideas  and  rules  for 
composition  are  so  naive  that  we  cannot  refrain  from  quoting 
a  few  of  them,  as  contained  in  the  preface  to  the  first  collection 
of  his  own  compositions,  published  in  1770.  He  says: 
"Nature  is  the  best  conductor";  "Hard  rules  never  made  a 
melody,  any  more  than  the  twenty-four  letters  of  the  alphabet 
made  poetry";  "You  must  first  have  music  in  nature,  art 
can  only  polish  it";    "Some  say  that  consecutive  fifths  and 


Conclusion  283 


octaves  are  forbidden,  but  I  would  rather  permit  them  than 
spoil  the  melody.  I  have  felt  the  slavish  restraint  of  such 
rules;  there  is  a  poetic  license,  why  not  a  musical  license?  I 
will  not  be  confined  by  such  rules,  nor  will  I  make  any  such 
rules  for  others  who  study  with  me."  Among  contemporaries 
of  Billings  must  be  mentioned  Oliver  Holden,  who  wrote  the 
hymn  tune  "Coronation,"  Andrew  Law,  Jacob  Kimball, 
Daniel  Read,  and  Timothy  Swan,  all  of  whom  contributed  to 
literature  of  church  music. 

The  first  of  the  choral  societies,  resulting  from  the  work 
done  in  singing-schools,  which  assumed  importance,  was  the 
Stoughton  Musical  Society,  an  outgrowth  of  Billings'  labors; 
but  the  most  famous  one  is  the  Handel  and  Haydn  Society, 
organized  in  Boston  in  1815  with  a  chorus  of  almost  100  voices. 

The  one  man  whose  efforts  connect  the  singing-schools 
with  the  work  of  the  choral  society  of  to-day  was  Lowell 
Mason  (1792-1872).  His  publication  of  a  number  of  his 
compositions  in  a  collection  of  church  music,  after  receiving 
the  indorsement  of  the  influential  Handel  and  Haydn  Society, 
proved  so  successful  that  he  decided  to  become  a  professional 
musician.  Being  a  man  of  the  people  and  a  born  teacher,  he 
devoted  himself  to  musical  convention  work,  and  thus  taught 
the  principles  of  music  to  thousands  upon  thousands  of  young 
people,  and  fostered  in  them  the  love  of  singing. 

Efforts  in  the  direction  of  the  organization  of  instrumental 
players  followed  those  of  the  singers  and  resulted  in  the 
establishment  of  the  Boston  Philharmonic  Society,  whose 
chief  promoter  was  Gottlieb  Graupner;  with  a  small  orchestra 
of  12  and  a  chorus  of  100  (ten  of  whom  were  ladies)  he  con- 
ducted, in  181 2,  Handel's  Judas  Maccahccus,  and,  with  the 
assistance  of  the  Handel  and  Haydn  Society,  presented,  in 
1815,  Haydn's  Creation,  the  first  really  notable  event  in  our 
musical  development. 

The  success  of  these  attempts  stimulated  musical  people  in 
other  cities  and  resulted  in  the  organization  of  the  Musical 


284  Familiar  Talks  on  the  History  of  Music 

Fund  Society  in  Philadelphia  in  1820,  and  in  a  series  of  suc- 
cessive orchestras  in  New  York  City,  which  led  jfinally  to  the 
formation  of  the  New  York  Philharmonic  Society,  whose 
earnest  work  began  in  1842  and  has  continued  until  the  present 
time. 

Performances  of  opera  in  this  country,  though  sporadic, 
were  not  wholly  absent  even  in  colonial  days,  for  the  English 
form  of  Ballad  Opera  was  in  vogue  in  New  York  as  early  as 
1750.  Although  New  Orleans  supported  a  company  of  French 
singers  as  early  as  1791,  it  was  not  until  1825,  when  our  various 
wars  were  over  and  the  country  had  become  prosperous,  that 
a  really  artistic  opera  company,  having  among  its  principals 
Manuel  Garcia  and  his  celebrated  daughter  Mme.  Malibran, 
came  to  New  York.  Their  success  induced  other  foreign 
managers  and  singers  to  make  occasional  visits  to  our  shores. 

While  many  foreign  musicians  strove  earnestly  for  the 
improvement  of  musical  culture  in  this  country  during  the 
latter  half  of  the  nineteenth  century,  the  man  whose  name 
shines  most  efifulgently  among  them  was  Theodore  Thomas 
(1835-1905).  To  him  more  than  to  any  one  else  we  owe  the 
general  elevation  of  taste  for  the  better  class  of  music,  and  our 
high  ideals  of  orchestral  and  choral  performances  of  the  works 
of  the  great  masters.  He  was  a  marvelous  force  in  our  musical 
progress,  which  he  regarded  with  an  almost  paternal  love. 
He  is  responsible  for  the  establishment  of  the  widely  cele- 
brated Cincinnati  May  Music  Festival,  whose  conductor  he 
remained  until  his  death,  and  which  stimulated  other  cities 
to  serious  efforts  in  the  same  direction.  Many  others  have 
followed  in  his  footsteps,  but  as  we  still  enjoy  the  benefit  of 
their  best  endeavors,  their  names  are  sure  to  be  known  to  all 
music-lovers. 

Our  present  opportunities  for  hearing  the  greatest  artists 
of  the  world  in  concert  and  in  opera,  are  enjoyed  by  thousands 
upon  thousands  every  year,  and  are  so  thoroughly  appreciated 
and  so  well  supported  financially,  that  America  has  become 


Conclusion  285 


the  Mecca  of  every  pianist,  violinist  and  singer,  and  our  taste 
for  what  is  best  in  musical  art  may  well  be  considered  to  be 
on  a  par  with  that  of  any  other  nation. 

Our  many  music-schools,  some  of  which,  like  the  one  with 
which  the  writer  has  the  honor  to  be  connected,  offer,  through 
their  faculties  of  native  and  foreign  artists,  instruction  equal 
to  that  of  the  best  European  institutions,  are  filling  the  land 
with  well-qualified  teachers,  whose  labors  are  certain  to  result 
in  an  ever-increasing  musical  public. 

Since  some  of  our  native  artists  and  teachers  have  already 
begun  to  fill  important  places  abroad,  and  since  even  in  the 
domain  of  composition  we  may  boast  of  men,  such  as  the  late 
Edward  MacDowell,  whose  works  are  known  to  all  the  world, 
we  may  well  say  that  the  rising  sun  of  our  musical  future  is 
brilliant  with  justifiable  hopes,  which  may  even  include  that 
of  an  American  school  of  composition. 


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